The seventh flight of SpaceX Starship ended with the loss of the ship

17.01.2025/22/30 XNUMX:XNUMX    627


The seventh test launch of the giant rocket took place tonight Spacex starshipThe eponymous ship and Super Heavy booster lifted off at 16:37 p.m. local time on November 16. As part of this mission, an updated version of the Starship itself was launched into space, which is taller and heavier than the previous one.

SpaceX managed to accomplish one of the most difficult elements of a rocket launch Starship — return the first stage super heavy to the launch pad, where it was picked up by a special Mechazilla tower with special grippers, the so-called chopsticks. The booster returned a little less than 7 minutes after liftoff.

Latest news:  Hubble captures cosmic galaxy with nine rings

Recall that SpaceX already managed to do this during the fifth flight, but during the sixth launch something went wrong and the booster did not dare to put it on the launch pad, but carefully lowered it into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Now, during the sixth flight, the company managed to repeat the success.

However, the success of the Super Heavy was overshadowed by the loss of the Starship. It stopped transmitting telemetry shortly after the booster landed, eight minutes after launch. At the time of this writing, it is not known exactly what happened to the spacecraft. We will probably learn more details in a few hours.

The most notable difference between the new Starship Version 2 or Block 2 and the first version of the ship was the forward flaps of the ship - their size was reduced, and they themselves were moved closer to the nose of the Starship, which will help protect them as the ship enters the atmosphere. In this mission, the Super Heavy and Starship had more than 4700 tons of fuel and oxidizer on board; the volume of the ship's fuel tanks was increased by 25%, and ten Starlink communication satellite mock-ups were placed in the payload bay. The total height of the rocket reached 123,1 m.

Latest news:  Scientists have developed an injection that restores damaged spinal discs

Other changes in Starship Version 2 include:

  • vacuum jacket of fuel supply lines;
  • a new fuel supply system for the Raptor vacuum engines on the ship;
  • improved avionics module with control of ship valves and sensor reading;
  • redesigned navigation and positioning sensors with stars;
  • built-in smart batteries and power supplies that distribute 2,7 MW of power across the ship's systems;
  • The number of cameras on board the ship has increased to 30.
Latest news:  Millions will die: the world predicted a medical catastrophe

SpaceX is also developing an upgraded version of the Super Heavy first stage that will be slightly taller than the current one, but the seventh test flight used a first-generation booster. Source: SpaceX





portaltele.com.ua