The world’s largest and most powerful rocket designed by SpaceX successfully completed a test flight. The new generation rocket Starship reverses a trend of disappointing failures and successfully establishes itself in outer space after being blasted off from Texas at 18:30 local time (23:30 BST). The 60-minute flight involved part of the engine appearing to explode at one stage, and the flaps on the sides of the rocket catching fire and swinging from side to side. Good morning.

This comes after three Starship launches ended in failure this very year, with one rocket exploding on the launchpad in June. The first version of the rocket had five successful launches, but any attempt to launch the newest version has usually ended in explosions. For instance, in March, one explosion grounded flights and caused debris to rain down over the Bahamas. Some pieces even landed in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. However, during this time, SpaceX successfully executed the ‘chopsticks manoeuvre,’ catching the rocket booster in mechanical arms when it returned to earth. Another Starship rocket exploded on the launchpad in Texas just when it was preparing for a test flight in June.

NASA’s Interest

The US space agency NASA is planning to use the Starship model to further send humans to the moon for its ambitious Artemis program set for 2027. This is because Starship is one of the largest and most powerful rockets built till now, made up of a booster called Super Heavy and the spacecraft Starship. NASA has already contracted SpaceX to use a modified version of Starship to take humans to the moon as part of its Artemis program. However, the date is most likely to be pushed ahead.

“Great work by the SpaceX team!,” posted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on social media platform X.

The positive signs started to appear from the point Tuesday’s test flight began. All the booster’s 33 engines fired up, and by the seventh minute, the booster separated from the spacecraft and fell into the Gulf of Mexico. Then the Starship rocket continued to ascend, ultimately reaching a height of almost 200 km above earth. According to SpaceX, the rocket was intended to be put under stress to test its limits, and parts of the rocket flap appeared to burn and swing widely during the descent phase.

The Starship returned to earth in a bruised condition on Tuesday, but still, it was a big step forward for the company that needed to prove the quality of the rocket in terms of safety and reliability to take humans to the moon.

Starship for Transport

The company wants to develop Starship as a lucrative, fully reusable transport system capable of carrying people to the moon and Mars. Mr Musk wants to build Starship for certified human travel as early as next year and has also suggested that it will start uncrewed flights to Mars within the next 12 months. The mantra so far is to fail fast and learn fast rather than take a cautious approach. The company always aims to move quickly, and every time the rocket explodes, the company takes it as another chance to collect performance data.

However, after many such failures in a row this year, SpaceX was surrounded by questions about the future of Starship and whether Mr Musk will be spending too much time on US politics. The world’s richest man behind Starship was a key supporter of US President Donald Trump in the 2024 elections until finally falling out in June.