SpaceX company has for the first time successfully completed a full-fledged space launch of its heavy Starship spacecraft. Shortly after launch, 26 Starlink satellites were deployed into near-Earth orbit. If the flight goes according to plan, the spacecraft will make six orbits around Earth and then splash down in the Pacific Ocean, west of the coast of Chile.
The Super Heavy rocket launched from SpaceX's private Starbase spaceport in Texas at 3:46 PM Belarusian time. After 25 minutes, one of Starship's three Raptor main engines ignited, transferring it from a suborbital trajectory to near-Earth orbit.
Shortly after reaching orbit, 26 new third-version Starlink communication satellites were launched from the spacecraft. Three of them were equipped with special video cameras. With their help, SpaceX engineers want to study the condition of Starship's thermal protection coating after the flight.
Currently, SpaceX usually uses Falcon 9 rockets for launching Starlink satellites, but in the future, the company plans to fully transition to Starship. It is estimated that one such spacecraft will be able to launch up to 60 satellites into space per launch.
This was the 14th joint launch of the Starship system and the Super Heavy rocket, but the first full-fledged orbital one. All 13 previous launches were suborbital, after which the spacecraft intentionally splashed down in the Indian Ocean.
After completing its work, the Super Heavy first stage fell into the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX had previously announced that it did not plan to recover or soft-land either the first stage or Starship itself during this launch. If the test is deemed successful, the company plans to attempt to catch and land the spacecraft using a special tower during the 15th launch.
During its first full orbital flight, Starship is expected to make six orbits around Earth in approximately 10 hours at an altitude of about 274 kilometers. After this, the spacecraft will re-enter the dense layers of the atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.
In the future, SpaceX expects to recover Starship after splashdown and reuse it. The company also plans to use more advanced versions of the spacecraft for future expeditions to the Moon and Mars.
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