SpaceX launches Starship Flight 11, finale of Block 2 upper stage | Watch

Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launches Starship Flight 11 megarocket test flight | Watch

Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched massive Starship rocket on 11th test flight on Monday (local time), aiming to travel halfway around the globe while releasing mock satellites as it did last time.

Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster made a successful splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, providing further proof of SpaceX's progress in mastering booster descent and recovery.

The entire process is meant to replicate how Starship will perform a deorbit burn, a maneuver that guides the vehicle back toward land after completing its space mission. According to CNN, SpaceX's Dan Huot emphasised, “This will be a critical capability." Starship stands apart from all previous rockets because it's designed for full rapid reuse. SpaceX aims to recover both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft safely after each flight.

Employees chant ‘USA! USA!' as satellite test concludes

As the Starship prototype released its final dummy satellite during a payload deployment test, employees erupted in cheers and began chanting “USA! USA!” together. The reason for the chant wasn't clear, the report said. Earlier in the webcast, one of the hosts mentioned that, once operational, Starship will be capable of launching batches of around 60 Starlink satellites at a time.

The SpaceX livestream host mentioned, “Starship will deploy Starlink's more advanced V3 satellites, adding 60 terabits per second of capacity to the network per launch. So, that's 20 times more than each Falcon 9 launch does today. Just incredible.”

The previous test flight in August, which came after three in-flight failures and a ground test explosion, seemed to proceed without issues. SpaceX is working rapidly to develop the spacecraft for a scheduled 2027 moon landing for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as competition intensifies in the new space race.

NASA depends on the 403-foot (123-meter) Starship to land astronauts on the moon before the decade ends, as it's the reusable spacecraft designed to transport them from lunar orbit to the surface and back.

For the first time, instead of staying in Launch Control, Musk said he would watch the launch from outside, calling the experience “much more visceral", as per a report by AP.

SpaceX is upgrading its launch facilities at Cape Canaveral to support Starship launches, alongside the smaller Falcon rockets that currently carry astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station for NASA.

Source: LiveMint
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