After several failed attempts, finally Elon Musk was able to celebrate a victory in the field of space exploration. This Thursday, the Starship aircraft – created by the SpaceX company and considered the largest and most powerful rocket to date – achievement take off and landing so controlled on land.
This is a milestone that the company led by Musk had not achieved since its first launch in 2023. The NASA authorities They followed the mission closely since SpaceX will participate in the Artemis III program that plans to take 4 astronauts to the south pole of the Moon in the year 2026.
SpaceX’s successful mission
“Landing confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting fourth Starship flight test!!”, he noted in his X company account. The rocket was launched from Texas, United States and the mission was broadcast to the whole world through the official account of the company led by Musk.
The takeoff occurred around 9:50 Argentine time. From the beginning, the mission was a success with the recovery of the Super Heavy propellant which landed in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico six minutes after launch.
Starship takeoff.mp4
The moment of takeoff was broadcast through the official SpaceX account on “X”.
SpaceX
After the aircraft orbited the earth for an hour, the key moment of the day arrived: the controlled return of the Starship capsule to the planet. This stage is where his predecessor had failed.
The moment of maximum tension came when The aircraft reached the peak temperature upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere. It was here when one of the flaps of the Starship It was on the verge of breaking off, which would have complicated the landing mission.
Finally, the company was able to celebrate the returned from the capsule successfully. In this fourth flight, rather than reaching the planned orbit, the goal was “demonstrate the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy“, which included achieving – as it happened – “a controlled entry” of the ship.
SpaceX, the Artemis mission and NASA
Today was not just another day for Elon Musk’s intentions. SpaceX had to demonstrate progress in the manufacturing of its aircraft and, above all, in the successful recovery of the capsule.
artemis astronauts.webp
Christina Hammock Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen are the 4 astronauts chosen for the Artemis III mission.
POT
NASA selected the company led by Musk to be part of the Artemis program. It is an international space program that seeks step on the moon again, establish a sustainable presence on the surface and orbit of the earth satellite and lay the foundations of a lunar economy.
Led by the POTthis project will seek to bring 4 astronauts to the south pole of the Moon. In its development, it has the support of half a dozen Space Agencies (including the European and Mexican) and a large number of private companies.
For its part, SpaceX was selected to manufacture the lander to carry Artemis III astronauts in 2026. Furthermore, according to Musk himself, the space exploration company was created to help humanity “colonize mars“, something that NASA plans to achieve in the year 2030.
