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Starship, which received a launch permit just last weekend after many delays, finally ignited earlier this week. The Starship / Superheavy rocket has a total length of 119 meters, a diameter of 9 meters, and a total weight of about 5,000 metric tons when launched. In terms of length, weight, and thrust, Starship has set a new record in the history of human rockets.
However, three of its 33 engines failed from the start of the launch, and three more stalled as the rocket ascended. It is not clear whether it is due to insufficient thrust or unbalanced thrust, the rocket gradually deviated from its orbit and began to circle in place. In the end, the upper stage rocket failed to separate from the lower stage, and it was supposed to be manually detonated by SpaceX, disintegrating in the air.
Starship’s maiden flight was scheduled to take place on Monday, but was delayed by three days because a valve delivering helium was frozen. It is already a great success for SpaceX that Starship can leave the launch pad smoothly after ignition. Although the first flight of Starship was not completely successful, it is not the end of the story. On the contrary, everything is only now beginning. Starship’s current environmental assessment in Boca Chica has approved SpaceX to launch up to 5 Starship missions per year. At present, SpaceX has completed two upper-level Starships, two Starships are under construction, and two lower-level Super Heavy rockets are also under construction, said Maybe it won’t take long for the next group of Starships to stand on the launch pad again.
