SpaceX Launches Starship on Seventh Test Flight, Loses Communication with Upper Stage
SpaceX launched the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost communication with the upper stage of the rocket that continues on into space. The company’s webcast showed data stopped transmitting from Starship about nine minutes into the launch. “We can confirm that we did lose the ship,” said SpaceX senior manager of quality systems engineering Kate Tice.
The Starship launched from SpaceX’s private “Starbase” facility near Brownsville, Texas, shortly after 5:30 p.m. ET. A few minutes later, the rocket’s “Super Heavy” booster returned to land at the launch site, in SpaceX’s second successful “catch” during a flight.
There are no people on board the Starship flight, but the rocket is carrying 10 “Starlink simulators” in its payload bay. The simulators are designed to test the rocket’s capabilities and are expected to follow a similar trajectory to the rocket and burn up during reentry.
The Starship rocket is critical to SpaceX’s plans, even with its $350 billion valuation and already dominant position in the space industry. The rocket is both the tallest and most powerful rocket ever launched, standing 403 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. It is powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane and requires more than 10 million pounds of propellant for launch.
The Starship flying on this launch, tagged as Ship 33, represents a second-generation version of the vehicle, called “Block 2.” The vehicle features significant upgrades, including changes to the flaps on the vehicle’s nose, redesigns of its propulsion system to boost performance, an enhanced flight computer, 30 cameras placed along the vehicle for monitoring the rocket, and a reinforced heat shield.
The booster for this flight attempt features a reused Raptor engine, which flew during the fifth test flight last year. The Starship system is designed to be fully reusable and aims to become a new method of flying cargo and people beyond Earth. The rocket is also critical to NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon, with SpaceX winning a multibillion-dollar contract from the agency to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander as part of NASA’s Artemis moon program.
