Elon Musk‘s SpaceX has successfully completed the first splash-down of its Starship rocket, bringing the billionaire one step closer to colonizing Mars.
The 400-foot-tall rocket, consisting of the Starship cruise vessel mounted atop its towering Super Heavy rocket booster, took off from Boca Chica, Texas at 8:50am ET.
Musk proclaimed the missions as an ‘epic achievement’ after Starship soared 130 miles above the surface and making a soft landing in the Indian Ocean as planned.
Cheers erupted in the control center as confirmation came in, leading to SpaceX employees toasting marshmallows to celebrate Starship’s ‘toasty’ ride.
The previous three attempts saw the prototypes explode midair or break apart during re-entry – only tiles and a damaged flap occurred during Thursday’s mission.
SpaceX launched its Starship at 8:50 a.m. ET from Boca Chica, Texas
SpaceX personnel cheered as the booster successfully splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico about eight minutes after take-off
‘And we have splashdown!’ SpaceX launch commentator Kate Tice announced from Mission Control at company headquarters in California as the booster landed in the Gulf.
It was a critical milestone in the company’s plan to eventually return Starship´s Super Heavy booster to its launch site for reuse.
The SpaceX Starship is classified as a super heavy-lift launch rocket that is celebrated as the most powerful ever built.
Thursday’s launch marked a major milestone for its eventual endeavor to bring humans to Mars, with 32 of its 33 engines lighting as the craft launched.
The booster successfully splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico about eight minutes after take-off.
As the Starship reentered the atmosphere an hour after lift-off, pieces of the rocket’s flap started shredding off and a hole appeared as a debris covered the camera, cracking the lens.
The live view went in and out as the rocket started cooling, receiving applause each time it turned back on, indicating Starship was still receiving data as it decreased to 620 miles per hour – below the speed of sound.
Starship traveled to Earth’s orbit without requiring the assistance of its booster and will provide valuable data about the reusability of the vehicle and how well it will survive the extreme heat upon reentry.
‘The payload for these flight tests is data. Building upon what we achieved during Starship’s third flight test, our primary goal today is to get through the extreme heat of reentry,’ SpaceX posted on X.
The flight path will be similar to the third test, which took place in March and saw Starship fly for 49 minutes before it was eventually lost as it re-entered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
Since then SpaceX says it has made several software and hardware upgrades, and hopes to achieve a soft splashdown for the booster stage in the Gulf of Mexico, and a ‘controlled entry’ for the upper stage.
The fourth test comes just two days after SpaceX received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration which determines – which determines if commercial rockets will receive a license to launch.
Cheers erupted as the 400-foot-tall ship crash-landed in the Indian Ocean just over an hour after lift-off (pictured)
The booster successfully returned to Earth about eight minutes after take-off, receiving cheers from SpaceX personnel.
The booster successfully splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico about eight minutes after take-off (pictured)
In 2020, Musk revealed his plan for Starship to send humans to Mars.
He calculated that to put one million humans on the Red Planet by 2025, his rockets would need to conducted around three flights a day and a total of 1,000 flights a year – but 2025 is just around the corner.
The billionaire previously renewed his vow to colonize the Martian world in a post on X last month.
‘I’m going to colonize Mars. My mission in life is to make mankind multiplanetary civilization,’ the post read.
Musk’s reposted the message from his personal account with the accompanying words: ‘Only if civilization lasts long enough.’
One day before the mission, former President Barack Obama was speaking at a renewable energy conference in Paris and mentioned ‘tycoons, many of whom are building spaceships’ that could take humans to Mars.’
‘But when I hear some of the people talk about the plan to colonize Mars because the Earth environment may become so degraded that it becomes unlivable, I look at them like, what are you talking about,’ he continued.
‘I would rather us invest in taking care of this planet here.’
Starship is intended to be the first spaceship to reach the Red Planet, with Musk previously proclaiming it ‘will take humanity to Mars ‘
Starship traveled to Earth’s orbit without requiring the assistance of its booster and will provide valuable data about the reusability of the vehicle and how well it will survive the extreme heat upon reentry
Thursday’s launch marked a major milestone for its eventual endeavor to bring humans to Mars, with 32 of its 33 engines lighting as the craft launched
While Thursday’s mission did not end as planned, the test flight was the farthest performed with a Starship rocket.
The most powerful and largest launch vehicle ever constructed, Starship achieved one key first goal: successful separation from its Super Heavy booster.
Since then, SpaceX has conducted three launch attempts that have ended in Starship’s fiery destruction, all part of what the company said was an acceptable cost in its rapid trial-and-error approach to development.
While the booster, dubbed Booster 10, fell back to Earth and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico as planned during March’s launch, only a few engines were still firing.
A failed separation is what forced SpaceX to pull the kill switch during its first attempt, prompting Starship to explode mid-air.
The $3 billion attempt was still considered a success, according to SpaceX, and NASA congratulated the company for successfully reaching Earth’s orbit for the first time in a post on X.
‘Together,’ it said, ‘we are making great strides through Artemis to return humanity to the Moon—then look onward to Mars.’
