SpaceX launches Starship rocket on third test flight
SpaceX already has more Starships built
SpaceX is OK with discarding rockets after flight in the early stages of development.
That’s because the company uses a completely different approach to rocket design than, say, NASA. The latter focuses on building one rocket and strenuously designing and testing it on the ground before its first flight — taking years but pretty much guaranteeing success on the first launch.
SpaceX, however, rapidly builds new prototypes and is willing to test them to their breaking point because there’s usually a spare nearby. During a drive by the company’s facilities on Thursday — three Starship spacecraft and one Super Heavy booster could be seen from public roadways.
The launchpad appears to have avoided a "rock tornado"
During a visit to the Starship launchpad after Thursday’s test flight, at least a dozen workers in reflective vests could be seen collecting debris, piling pieces into orange buckets.
The launchpad itself appeared to be in good shape. Before SpaceX’s last test flight in November, the company installed a water deluge system designed to shoot more than 300,000 gallons of water up toward the Super Heavy booster to dampen the blow of the vehicle’s massive engines.
SpaceX installed the feature after the first Starship launch in April 2023 tore the pad to bits and created what Elon Musk called a “rock tornado.”
SpaceX competitor Blue Origin offers congratulations on Starship launch
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin congratulated Elon Musk’s SpaceX in a post on X, formerly Twitter, after Starship’s launch on Thursday.
The two billionaires and space industry rivals regularly top lists of the world’s richest people.
In December, Blue Origin’s tourism rocket New Shepard — designed to vault paying customers on brief trips to the edge of space — successfully launched on an uncrewed science mission from a private ranch in western Texas.
And in July 2021, Amazon founder Bezos himself launched into space on an 11-minute ride aboard a Blue Origin spacecraft he funded.
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