SpaceX achieved a significant milestone in space travel development yesterday when it tested its Starship rocket for the third time. The vehicle successfully launched, separated from its huge booster, and made a controlled descent back to Earth.
But the rocket lost contact during re-entry.
Why is it important?
The test flight demonstrated crucial advancements for NASA’s Artemis lunar program, which selected SpaceX to carry its astronauts to the moon as early as 2026.
Previous two Starship test flights last year exploded even before reaching Earth’s orbit. Earlier this week, CEO Elon Musk mentioned there will be at least six more Starship flights this year.
SpaceX aims to revolutionize space transportation by making both the rocket booster and spacecraft stage reusable—aiming to reduce costs and enable new missions.
Looking forward
While the Wednesday flight was a promising validation of Starship’s design, further testing and improvements are needed before missions to the moon or Musk’s dream of human settlements on Mars become feasible.
The previous two launches saw SpaceX engineers make 80 FAA-commissioned fixes.