SpaceX’s fourth spaceship is launched | Popular science

SpaceX conducted its final Starship test launch on June 6 at 8:50 a.m. EST – by far its most successful to date. The fourth such launch for the company was the first to achieve a successful controlled landing of its Super Heavy first stage booster, as well as the first ever controlled landing burn for its second stage “Ship” in the Indian Ocean.

Spaceship launch! pic.twitter.com/2Z1PdNPYPG

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024

The 15-story spaceship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built and consists of two stages: a Super Heavy booster and the ‘Ship’ module. The Super Heavy’s 33 methane and liquid oxygen-powered Raptor engines collectively generate 16.7 million pounds of thrust. SpaceX says the second-phase ship is ultimately intended to house as many as 100 crew members on voyages to the moon and Mars, if all goes as planned.

Thursday’s launch was SpaceX’s fourth unmanned attempt; each attempt went a little further in the overall goal of successfully re-landing the Starship rocket. The company’s first test in April 2023 lasted just four minutes before SpaceX ground controllers triggered a controlled explosion after Starship’s two stages failed to separate. The company nearly doubled its flight time in November 2023, and its most recent attempt in March managed to survive for about 50 minutes before disintegrating during atmospheric reentry.

[Related: SpaceX Starships keep exploding, but it’s all part of Elon Musk’s plan.]

As with the previous test, Ship was planned to crash in the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy booster would end up in the Gulf of Mexico, near the SpaceX starbase. Initial reports indicate that both goals have been achieved for the first time, a major step forward for the Starship program.

Starship’s reliability is key to NASA’s ongoing Artemis moon program, intended to pave the way for establishing a permanent human presence on the lunar surface by the end of this decade. SpaceX will provide a fully relaunchable spacecraft for the crewed Artemis 3 mission currently scheduled for September 2026.

Super Heavy crashed in the Gulf of Mexico pic.twitter.com/hIY3Gkq57k

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024

Spaceship launches have not been without controversy. SpaceX’s April 2023 launch was described as “truly terrifying” by residents near the launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, as it caused a “mini-earthquake” and created a 25-foot-deep crater. “Almost everywhere” was covered in fine dust and grains of sand in Port Isabel, and debris the size of a bowling ball drove an empty NASA van. Environmentalists have also repeatedly raised concerns about the impact of launches on nearby protected nature reserves. In total there are 27 environmental, community and indigenous organizations issued an open letter before the launch on April 18, they expressed frustrations with the ongoing testing, noting that Starbase is located near sacred lands for local indigenous communities.

This story is being updated…