Starship More Successful on Second Test Flight
Starship More Successful on Second Test Flight
Booster Separates, Explodes Before Landing
The second test flight of the SpaceX Starship was more successful than the first, but still failed to achieve all of the objectives hoped for during the flight.
"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary."
SpaceX via X.
Starship successfully lifted off under the power of all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy Booster and made it through a successful stage separation. The booster exploded after its boostback burn following the successful stage separation, while Starship's 6 second stage Raptor engines fired for several minutes as the Ship climbed to an altitude of about 150 kilometers (93 miles) before the team announced that telemetry from the second stage was lost.
"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary," SpaceX said on the social media site X.
"We’ll continue to share updates here as the team reviews data from today’s test. Thank you to our customers, Cameron County, and the wider community for the continued support and encouragement. And congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting second flight test of Starship."