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Journalism of Courage
SpaceX on Monday, April 17, scrubbed the launch of the Starship rocket system’s first orbital test due to issues with the booster stage’s pressurisation system. The Elon Musk-led company used the attempted launch as a wet dress rehearsal and continued to the countdown and did everything but actually launch the rocket.
The first Starship launch attempt was streamed on SpaceX’s YouTube channel. The company has two backup launch attempts this week and could still attempt a launch during one of them.
The stainless steel Starship launch vehicle stands at approximately 119 metres tall and is one of the biggest and most powerful rocket systems ever built. Together, the Starship spacecraft (second stage) and the Super Heavy rocket (first stage), are referred to as Starship.
Once it is fully developed, it could be the most powerful launch vehicle ever created in history, with twice the thrust of the Saturn V rockets used in the Apollo moon missions and the ability to carry up to 150 tons of payload into orbit.
SpaceX has already tested the Starship spacecraft multiple times in the past, but the demo that did not happen on Monday was the first time when both the sections attached together were tested together.
During the actual first orbital test. SpaceX will not attempt to land either the Super Heavy rocket or the Starship spacecraft. But both stages of the rocket system are designed to be reusable. This means that during an actual launch, the Super Heavy first stage should have a controlled landing back to Earth after launching the spacecraft.
After the Starship system goes through a series of rigorous tests like the one that was supposed to happen on Monday, it will be part of an uncrewed mission where the Starship rocket will land on the lunar mission. After this, NASA says that it will begin using the rocket system for missions to Mars as part of the Artemis program.
