Starship 2024: almost successful mission for the largest rocket in the world!

STARSHIP. This Thursday, March 14, 2024, Elon Musk's space company SpaceX successfully took off from Starship, its megafus, for the first time. e intended for bring astronauts to the Moon.

[Mis à day March 14, 2024 à 5:12 p.m.] After two attempts which ended in spectacular explosions last April and November, SpaceX's giant rocket,  the tallest and most powerful in the world, has finally succeeded in its mission, reaching orbit for the first time.  After a successful takeoff & 2:25 p.m. French time this Thursday, March 14, 2024 from SpaceX Starbase located at Boca Chica Village in Texas, on the east coast of the United States, the rocket successfully propelled its two rockets this time around. floors and reached à perform a trajectory beyondà of the Kármán line, this abstract line which delimits the aeronautical space of space astronautics, &agrav; 100 kilometers from the surface of the Earth.

SpaceX was pleased to have finally carried out a "controlled reentry" from his ship even if the signal was received. lost during the ship's descent back to Earth when it was supposed to have been lost. land in a controlled manner in the Indian Ocean. This third Starship test flight marks a turning point in the history of the conquest of space. Indeed, NASA is counting on Elon Musk's Starship to land its astronauts on the Moon in 2026 during the Artemis III mission. It is therefore a success for Elon Musk who is already announcing his plans. "six more qualification flights this year" to prove that this rocket is capable of sending safely and securely. astronauts on our satellite. Relive the takeoff of Starship:

What is SpaceX Starship?

The Starship is a rocket developed by the company & SpaceX which is composed of a launcher, the Super Heavy, topped with of the Starship. It's & aboard the latter that the astronauts of the Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 missions will land on lunar soil.

From a performance point of view, the Starship rocket is poised to become the most powerful rocket ever used and take over thus the NASA SLS launcher. The entire rocket has a total of thirty-three Raptor engines. The upper part, the Starship, is designed to be declination. in different versions depending on needs.

How SpaceX's Starship rocket works?

SpaceX's Starship rocket is the largest and most powerful ever built. This rocket is made up of an extremely powerful launcher, the Super Heavy, capable of returning to land on Earth to serve its purpose. new, overcomeé of a Starship vessel which is also intended to be reusable. Its unparalleled power is obtained thanks to thirty-three Raptor engines using liquid methane as fuel.

During takeoff, the first stage, called Super Heavy, propels the rocket into the sky. Once in the upper atmosphere, it detaches from the upper part, rotates on itself and returns to land on Earth by deploying his feet for a soft landing. For its part, the upper part made up of the Starship, ignites its engines and continues its journey through space alone.

Assembling the Starship on its Super Heavy launcher © UPI/Newscom/SIPA (published 11/21/2022)

How big is Starship?

The Starship rocket measures a total of 120 meters high and 9 meters in diameter, making it the largest rocket ever built. It thus dethrones the Saturn V rocket which sent the first astronauts on the Moon during the Apollo missions. Its size is incommensurable with NASA's SLS launcher which culminates à 98 meters in height once equipped with the Orion capsule. Only the Starship, that is to say the upper part of the rocket, measures 50 meters high for a weight of 1 200 tonnes.

Starship spacecraft on its Super Heavy launcher © UPI/Newscom/SIPA (published 03/10/2022)

How much does the Starship rocket cost ?

SpaceX did not broadcast the total price of building the Starship rocket but we know the amount of the contract which was awarded. signed between the company Elon Musk and NASA for the various Artemis missions which involve SpaceX. Thus, for Artemis 3, NASA has paid out $2.89 billion. For Artemis 4 and the new version of the Starship, the contract is up to 100%. $1.15 billion.

In addition, the companyété SpaceX has revealed the prices that it hopes to be able to offer for its Starship rocket launch services. Elon Musk plans to break the prices of the space economy by proposing a price of 2 million dollars per flight while the SLS costs 2 billion dollars. dollars.