SpaceX's Starship Rocket Makes Another Successful Test Flight
SpaceX's Starship rocket made another successful test flight on Monday, soaring into the evening sky from the southern tip of Texas. This mammoth rocket, the largest and most powerful ever built, released mock satellites as it made its way halfway around the world. The booster made a controlled entry into the Gulf of Mexico, while the spacecraft skimmed space before descending into the Indian Ocean. Nothing was recovered.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk was on-site, watching the launch for the first time, calling it a 'much more visceral' experience. This was the 11th test flight for a full-scale Starship, which Musk aims to use for sending people to Mars. NASA's need is more immediate, as the space agency cannot land astronauts on the moon by decade's end without the 403-foot Starship.
The previous test flight in August was a success after a string of explosive failures. This flight included more maneuvering, especially for the spacecraft, with SpaceX conducting a series of tests during the spacecraft's entry over the Indian Ocean as practice for future landings back at the launch site. Starship carried eight mock satellites mimicking SpaceX's Starlinks, and the entire flight lasted just over an hour.
NASA's acting administrator, Sean Duffy, praised Starship's progress, calling it a 'major step toward landing Americans on the moon's south pole.' SpaceX is also modifying its Cape Canaveral launch sites to accommodate Starships, in addition to the smaller Falcon rockets used for NASA missions.
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