Starship test flight splashes down in Indian Ocean after successful launch from Texas
The grand finale of the week’s launches culminated on Tuesday evening with another exciting test flight of Starship and the Super Heavy booster from SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in South Texas.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – SpaceX, a private space exploration company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, had a busy several days, with four launches across three states, including another test flight of the Starship spaceship.
It's not uncommon to see two SpaceX rockets stacked in Florida, at launchpads on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center property. However, four rockets preparing for or recently launching from all of its facilities across Florida, Texas and California is rare even for the company with more than 400 launches and counting, but it's likely to be an increasing occurrence.
On Sunday evening, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched the TD7 mission from Launchpad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, kicking off the first of four launches over three days in three states. Hours later in California, SpaceX launched a batch of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Next, was SpaceX's NSIL GSAT-N2 mission from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday,
The grand finale of the week’s launches culminated on Tuesday evening with another exciting test flight of Starship and the Super Heavy booster from SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in South Texas.
The SpaceX Starship rocket lifted off at 5 p.m. EST, with the booster landing upright minutes later in the Gulf of Mexico.
The company did not attempt to land the first-stage booster back on land, which was widely expected to happen in the lead-up to the launch.
After reaching its cruising altitude, SpaceX relighted its engine in space, which is no easy task, according to space aficionados.
About an hour later, the spacecraft splashed down in the open Indian Ocean, ending what SpaceX called a successful test.
"Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting sixth flight test of Starship!"
SPACEX CATCHES STARSHIP BOOSTER IN 'MECHAZILLA ARMS' IN HISTORIC FIRST
NASA tapped Starship to be the agency’s first human landing system on the Moon since the Apollo program, but first, SpaceX must complete dozens if not hundreds of more test flights before flying humans. This year, SpaceX has picked up the pace on Starship test flights. Tuesday’s Starship flight will be the quickest turnaround between tests yet, with the fifth happening on Oct. 13.
Eventually, Starship will launch and land from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA is targeting 2026 to return humans to the Moon under the Artemis program. However, that goal has shifted several times. An audit of the program by NASA’s Office of Inspector General found the Artemis III mission might not happen until 2027.