SpaceX's Starship notches major flight test milestones, breaks up over Indian Ocean in final moments

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNBC

Published Thu, Mar 14 2024 8:45 AM EDT Updated 57 Min Ago


SpaceX launched the third test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday and reached space, as the company pushed development of the mammoth vehicle past new milestones.

Elon Musk’s company launched Starship at about 9:25 a.m. ET from its Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas.

The rocket flew further than previous tests, with the flight lasting about an hour before Starship broke up above the Indian Ocean. The company noted that the vehicle did not splash down in the water, which was the intended ending of the flight. “We have lost Ship 28,” Dan Huot, communications manager at SpaceX, said on the company’s webcast.

The flight represents a significant step toward SpaceX completing prototype testing and beginning operational Starship launches.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/14/spacex-starship-rocket-third-test-flight-launch.html

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Article updated.

Original article/headline -

SpaceX Starship launches successfully, notches new milestones on way around Earth

Published Thu, Mar 14 2024 8:45 AM EDT Updated 3 Min Ago


SpaceX launched the third test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday and reached space, as the company looks to push development of the mammoth vehicle past new milestones.

Elon Musk's company launched Starship at about 9:25 a.m. ET from its Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas.

The rocket has now flown further than previous tests, with the flight expected to take an hour before it ends in an attempted splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX has flown the full Starship rocket system on two tests in the past year, with launches in April and November. Both previous launches had progressive but explosive results: While each of the rockets flew for a few minutes, with the most recent reaching space, both vehicles were ultimately destroyed due to problems.

[Eugene]

1. Partial success and substantial progress. Ship lost on reentry.

They opted out of a reentry burn and the ship descended at orbital speed.
The orbiter came down in pieces.

A mishap investigation by the FAA is likely as the reentry did not go as planned.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Yup.

Have been streaming.

I was watching when tiles and stuff started flying off of it as it was going through re-entry before the signal was lost.

Last screen grab I caught before it winked out -