By Diógenes Freire
Despite being destroyed by an explosion detonated remotely from the control room after a problem was detected, the success, at least in the launch phase of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, in practice, changes the rules of the aerospace industry and opens new possibilities for the company’s owner, billionaire Elon Musk.
Until today, the day the rocket was launched, the efforts of the major powers were focused on creating small, lightweight satellites and payloads.
Elon Musk’s Starship is the largest ever built at 120 meters high and can carry over one hundred tons.
For example, Starship surpassed the SLS, a rocket launched last November and presented as the “world’s most powerful”.
In addition, Starship also left behind the Saturn V rocket, used in the 1960s and 1970s by the American space program on lunar missions.
SpaceX’s rocket had to be blown up about 4 minutes after launch, at which point the two modules of the spacecraft were to separate.
The launch took place around 8:30 am (CDT) this Thursday (20) in Texas (USA).
“Starship successfully lifted off from the orbital launch pad and climbed to an apogee of approximately 39 km over the Gulf of Mexico,” SpaceX reported via Twitter.
Starship successfully lifted off from the orbital launch pad and climbed to an apogee of ~39 km over the Gulf of Mexico pic.twitter.com/PcmHRscp6w
SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 20, 2023
Watch the moment of the explosion:
FTS abort. Well done Booster 7 (and Ship 24)! That was still a big win. Launch site is fine and got a lot of first stage data!
Next up, Booster 9!https://t.co/npUj2AHByW pic.twitter.com/KRxBwsLlKq
NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) April 20, 2023
Before the launch, Musk had already indicated that the interest would be focused only on the launch’s success; whatever came after that, according to the billionaire, would be “profit.”
Initially, the mission was to test Starship’s ability to reach Earth orbit and perform a series of maneuvers before returning to the atmosphere.
Designed to carry up to 100 people on future missions to the Moon and Mars, the rocket was launched without a crew.
Vertical landing and rocket recovery were also not planned.
With the positive outcome of the launch, Musk’s project may have several applications, such as transporting people and cargo between any points on Earth in less than an hour.
The Pentagon is already considering using Starship in military operations.
In addition, NASA already contracted Starship to carry the Artemis 3 and 4 missions, a program that aims to take astronauts back to the moon.
The mission is expected to take place in 2025.
Musk is still working to make the system fully reusable with the two stages (the booster, called the Super Heavy, and the spacecraft itself) capable of landing autonomously.
With information from Brasil Sem Medo
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