The ‘Starship’ rocket system takes off for its third test flight

A test flight of about an hour was planned, after which both rocket stages from tech billionaire Elon Musk’s space company would land in the sea. The lower rocket stage also attempted to land but subsequently failed, as commentators on the livestream reported.

Rocket reached space for the first time
“We lost the rocket stage, so we need to look at the data again.” The upper rocket stage managed to reach space for the first time, where it would have to fly for about half an hour before landing. This means that significantly more goals were achieved in the third trial than in the previous two.

During an initial test last April, the entire missile system exploded after just a few minutes. During a second test in November, the two rocket stages separated and the top one continued to fly, but shortly afterwards both exploded separately. SpaceX always emphasizes that the purpose of the tests is to collect data.

Should make flights to the moon and Mars possible
The ‘Starship’ – consisting of the approximately 70 meter long ‘Super Heavy’ booster and the approximately 50 meter long upper stage (also called ‘Starship’) – is intended to enable manned missions to the Moon and Mars. The system is designed so that the spacecraft and rocket can be reused after return to Earth.

The system, which is approximately 120 meters long in total, will be able to transport more than 100 tons of freight in the future. NASA wants to take astronauts to the moon with the ‘Starship’. SpaceX hopes to one day take it to Mars.