‘Phenomenal Day:’ SpaceX Test Flight a Success Despite Loss of Spacecraft
SpaceX’s Starship accomplished a couple big goals when it took off Thursday morning, but was lost as it returned to earth. The flight was touted as means to “demonstrate new technologies and techniques that will be…
SpaceX’s Starship accomplished a couple big goals when it took off Thursday morning, but was lost as it returned to earth.
The flight was touted as means to “demonstrate new technologies and techniques that will be crucial on future missions to the moon and beyond,” NBC News reported.
Thursday’s flight was held on the 22nd anniversary of SpaceX’s founding and was deemed the rocket’s third and most ambitious such test, according to the company.
The rocket launched with no difficulty at 9:25 a.m. ET from SpaceX’s Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas.
This time, SpaceX achieved two major milestones over previous Starship tests. The spacecraft successfully reached orbit, then re-entered Earth’s atmosphere for the first time more than 40 minutes later, per the outlet.