Seventh Starship test ends in failure

Spread the love


The mission represented the most complex test flight of the system to date.

The seventh test launch of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and its Super Heavy booster, designed for crewed lunar missions, ended unsuccessfully late Thursday (CET). According to CNN and the Associated Press, the private American company SpaceX confirmed the failure.

The launch took place from SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility in southeast Texas on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. local time. Reports indicate that SpaceX lost contact with the spacecraft shortly after liftoff. The vehicle was carrying ten mock Starlink satellites intended for testing deployment procedures.

Despite the mission’s overall failure, the Super Heavy booster successfully returned to the launch pad at Boca Chica, marking a partial success.

According to the Associated Press, this mission was the most complex test flight of the Starship system so far.

SpaceX refers to the combination of the Starship spacecraft and its Super Heavy booster as the Starship launch system. This fully reusable transportation system is designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth’s orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. SpaceX claims it is the most powerful system to date, capable of delivering up to 150 tons of cargo into space.

To date, the only fully successful Starship test occurred in October when the Super Heavy booster returned to the launch pad and was captured by mechanical arms, and the spacecraft completed its planned flight.

In the sixth test in November 2024, the spacecraft performed its intended flight, but the booster crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.

All previous test flights have been uncrewed. SpaceX’s Starship is envisioned to carry up to 100 people or large quantities of cargo and equipment in the future.

This project is also critical for NASA, which has selected Starship for its Artemis program to land astronauts on the Moon. The return of humans to the lunar surface is scheduled for 2026.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

TECH

Scientists explore using suffering to test AI for consciousness

Spread the love

Spread the lovePain is one of the most universally recognized experiences among living beings. Researchers suggest that the ability to perceive pain could be a reliable indicator of emerging consciousness in artificial intelligence systems. According to a recent study, the sensation of pain is shared by most living creatures. In animals, consciousness is often defined […]

Read More
TECH

What hours of scrolling on TikTok do to your brain

Spread the love

Spread the loveWatching endless short videos can negatively affect mental health, according to a study by Chinese researchers. They also found that individuals prone to feelings of envy are more likely to develop an addiction to short-form video content.China’s version of TikTok is among the most popular apps for consuming short videos. Researchers from Tianjin […]

Read More
TECH

Meta to make major investments in AI development

Spread the love

Spread the loveMeta plans to invest over €60 billion in AI by 2025. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is set to make significant investments in artificial intelligence (AI) development this year. “This year will be crucial for AI,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Friday, revealing plans to allocate between €57.3 billion […]

Read More