SpaceX launches first-of-its-kind Starship test flight
The SpaceX Super Heavy-Starship was designed from the ground up to be fully reusable in a bid to lower launch costs.
On Friday, SpaceX undertook its 15th test flight of the colossal Starship rocket, a mission designed to last 22 hours. The rocket's first stage, a 236-foot-tall Super Heavy booster, successfully ignited, propelling the Starship into orbit. However, a technical issue led to a splashdown in the Texas Gulf Coast instead of a return to the launch pad.
The spacecraft then performed a controlled re-entry, intentionally flying over sparsely populated areas of northern Mexico and southern Texas before descending towards the launch site. If any issues arose during reentry, SpaceX had planned to intentionally tumble the spacecraft to break it up in the atmosphere, preventing any potential damage to populated areas.
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