By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-11-19 22:51:35 | Updated at 2024-11-20 01:33:16
2 hours ago
Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its sixth Starship test flight to space on Tuesday from Texas, eyeing an array of improvements on the rocket as US president-elect Donald Trump watched in person.
The roughly 120-metre-tall (400-foot-tall) rocket system, designed to land astronauts on the moon and ferry crews to Mars, lifted off at 4pm from SpaceX’s sprawling rocket development site in Boca Chica, Texas.
The first stage, called Super Heavy, unexpectedly made a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico instead of attempting to return to its launch pad, indicating something went wrong.
Starship, in space, will travel around Earth for a planned daytime splashdown in the Indian Ocean some 90 minutes later.
Starship last month demonstrated the novel catch-landing method for the first time, achieving a key milestone in its reusable design. Tuesday’s catch-landing was expected to be “faster/harder”, Musk wrote on social media before the launch.
Trump’s attendance signals a deepening alliance with Musk, who stands to benefit from Trump’s election victory, with the billionaire entrepreneur expected to wield extraordinary influence to help his companies and secure favourable government treatment.
