Starship flight test 1

Starship Developed by SpaceX, Starship is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle, the largest and most powerful ever developed. Standing tall, it is projected to be able to carry of payload in a fully reusable configuration. Its 33 first-stage Raptor engines nominally generate more than of thrust. This is roughly twice that of NASA's Saturn V () which flew between 1967 and 1973; more than NASA's SLS, which produced of thrust at liftoff in 2022; and well above the of thrust from the 30 engines that powered the Soviet Union's N1 rocket between 1969 and 1972. Both of Starship's stages are designed to perform controlled landings at the launch site enabling them to fly multiple times. SpaceX plans to use the launch vehicle for launching satellites, space tourism, and interplanetary spaceflight. Development Starting in 2019, SpaceX built several prototypes for the upper stage and launched them a total of nine times, culminating with the launch of Starship SN15 on May 5, 2021, that completed a successful high-altitude flight test of six minutes. SpaceX continued to build new upper stages, completed several first stages, and performed ground tests while waiting for governmental launch clearances. In 2021, SpaceX filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission in which it described the planned first flight test of the Starship-Super Heavy booster stack. The application said that, after liftoff from Starbase, the booster would separate and land about offshore while Starship would continue flying east and land about off the Hawaiian island of Kauai. In June 2022, the environmental review of the launch site concluded with a "mitigated FONSI" (Finding of No Significant Impact) ruling, requiring the company to implement various mitigations to local wildlife and historical sites but otherwise permitting a launch license to be issued. A flight readiness review was completed on April 8, 2023. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an orbital launch license for the vehicle on April 14, 2023. Opinions before launch Before the launch, 27 organizations including the Sierra Club, South Texas Environmental Justice Network, Another Gulf is Possible, Voces Unidas, and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe signed a letter expressing their concerns and opposition to it. They cited gentrification and overpolicing of the area, wildlife habitat and native ceremony disruption, and risk of methane-emitting accidents, among others. Test objectives SpaceX said it would measure the mission's success "by how much [SpaceX] can learn" and that completion of mission milestones were "not required for a successful test". ==Launch==

Flight profile The spacecraft flight plan was to lift off from SpaceX's Starbase facility along the south Texas coast, then conduct a powered flight until reaching the desired transatmospheric Earth orbit, estimated to be around , which would have caused Starship to re-enter the atmosphere after roughly 1 hour, 17 minutes of flight, nearly completing a full orbit. Though both of Starship's rocket stages are eventually intended to be reusable, SpaceX planned to discard both stages at the end of this flight. The test flight consisted of prototype vehicles Ship 24 and Booster 7. Both the booster and the spacecraft would have performed controlled touchdowns on the ocean surface. Flight timeline April 17, 2023, attempt The Starship and Super Heavy stack was loaded with propellant at Starbase and was set to launch at 13:20 UTC (8:20 a.m. CDT). However, the launch was aborted at T−8:05 due to a frozen pressurization valve on Booster 7. Before the abort, SpaceX launch control worked to fix the problem, aiming to proceed with a launch the same day. Due to the valves exhibited low responsiveness, SpaceX changed the scheduled flight to a wet dress rehearsal that ended at T−40 seconds. SpaceX said it would need at least 48 hours to prepare for a second attempt. April 20, 2023, 2nd attempt A 62-minute launch window opened at 8:28 a.m. CDT (13:28 UTC) on April 20, 2023. At 08:33 CDT (13:33 UTC), the vehicle successfully lifted off, albeit while causing damage to the launch pad. Starship slid laterally off the launchpad, as three engines failed to ignite upon liftoff. Multiple Raptor engines failed during flight. It has been suggested that a small explosion visible around T+0:30 was the failure of a hydraulic power unit, but this has not yet been confirmed. Eighty-five seconds into the launch, SpaceX lost thrust vector control of the 13 central engines and thus the ability to steer the rocket. after which its AFTS (autonomous flight termination system) was activated. The AFTS was intended to immediately destroy the vehicle, however, the booster's engines continued to fire until 40 seconds after the AFTS was triggered, about four minutes into the flight at a height of . No injuries or public property damage were reported by the Federal Aviation Administration. == Aftermath ==

Technical assessments The launch was generally regarded as an important step in Starship's iterative and incremental developmental progress. retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, and executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Dan Dumbacher. University of Chicago space historian Jordan Brimm said that "it fell somewhere between a small step and their hoped-for giant leap, but it still represents significant progress toward a reusable super-heavy lift rocket". Bloomberg News space reporter Loren Grush said the explosion "highlights the challenges ahead for Musk's grandiose plan for Starship to open up space to human travel", and that beyond the engineering work required for Starship to successfully land, SpaceX will still need to work on Starship's life support systems and ability to refuel in outer space. Grush also described the booster's first takeoff as a "win", and noted that commercial rockets' first launches are rarely successful. Ars Technica editor Eric Berger reported that launch industry officials believed that "getting the Super Heavy rocket and Starship upper stage off the launch pad was a huge success". According to Elon Musk, requalification of the flight termination system would be the main delay to the next launch, as despite the system activating and setting off the explosives, it "took way too long to rupture the tanks". Launch site The launch pad was built without flame diverters, water deluge systems or sound suppression systems, systems commonly used to prevent damage during liftoff. SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk tweeted in 2020, "Aspiring to have no flame diverter in Boca, but this could turn out to be a mistake." After the launch, photos showed damage to the concrete under the launch pad and to infrastructure at the launch site. SpaceX video of the launch showed debris shooting into the ocean nearly half a mile away. Musk said large chunks of concrete hit the launch tower but caused no meaningful damage. SpaceX told NASA administrator Bill Nelson in April that it would take at least two months to rebuild the launchpad. For the next launch, the company planned to put water-cooled steel plates under the launch mount. and finished on July 17. The system's first full-pressure test was conducted on July 28. Effects on environment radar in Brownsville, Texas briefly showed the plume from the rocket's breakup Residents and researchers were "scrambling" after the launch to assess its effects on local communities' health and wildlife. Soon after the launch, residents of Port Isabel, Texas, a town roughly from the launch site, reported particulate matter falling from the sky. A Port Isabel spokesperson called the debris a "thick, granular, sand grain that just landed on everything", adding that the debris posed no "immediate concern" to resident health. Representatives of Another Gulf is Possible, the Sierra Club, and Center for Biological Diversity expressed concerns that the particulate matter might harm Port Isabel residents and nearby endangered species, The latter two groups' representatives also said the blast's damage to roads had kept wildlife biologists from investigating the launch site until April 22, two days after the launch. Olivier de Weck, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets and a MIT professor, said that much of the dust and debris could have been better contained by flame trenches diverting the engine blast underground or a "pipeline...bring[ing] seawater" to the launch site. (de Weck nevertheless called the event "more of a success than a failure".) Similarly, Eric Roesch, an expert in environmental compliance and risk assessment, criticized SpaceX for not disclosing the launch's risks and for failing to use a trench or water system to dampen the launch's impact. Biologist David Newstead suggested that the delay in conducting a survey may have skewed the result, noting, for example, that predators would be likely to consume a "dead bird on the flats" within an hour. Justin LeClaire, a biologist who was allowed into the area 54 hours after launch, said that SpaceX has "altered a habitat on a wildlife refuge", and that it would take time to understand the effects. SpaceX requested that it be allowed to join the FAA as a defendant, which was granted in June. FAA investigation Following Starship's first flight failure, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required SpaceX to conduct an investigation on the mishap, grounding Starship pending the outcome of their investigation. The agency grounded Starship flights during the investigation, also a standard practice, and said that "a return to flight of the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety" and that there were no reports of injuries or public property damage. The FAA also announced that it would monitor the cleanup, which included the standard removal of launch debris from "sensitive habitats". On May 15, SpaceX filed a request for FCC approval for a second flight between June 15 and December 15, using Booster 9 and Ship 25. In August, SpaceX submitted an initial mishap report to the FAA for review and approval. The FAA stated in September 2023 In the same statement, FAA officials emphasized that "The closure of the mishap investigation does not signal an immediate resumption of Starship launches at Boca Chica", and that SpaceX first had to "implement all corrective actions that impact public safety" and applied for a "license modification from the FAA" that addresses the FAA's "safety and other environmental regulatory requirements". A version of the full report compliant with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) was released at the request of a Bloomberg journalist on May 9, 2025. ==See also==