STARSHIP. This Monday, April 17, 2023, Space X takes off for the first time its mega Starship rocket in its complete configuration. The takeoff of this mega launcher is a key step for the return of man to the Moon… and to Mars? Follow the latest news and experience the take-off live and on video.
[Mis à jour le 17 avril 2023 à 11h36] D-day for Elon Musk and his company Space X this Monday, April 17, 2023. Around 2 p.m. French time, the Starship mega-rocket must take off for the first time on the occasion of a test mission that is as strategic as it is risky. This rocket, the biggest in the world with a size of 120 meters (the equivalent of the first two stages of the Eiffel Tower), must carry out its first complete takeoff, that is to say with the first stage of the launcher called Super Heavy accompanied of the Starship second floor. This 2nd floor is a key element for the return of Man to the Moon since it was he who was chosen by NASA as the element to ensure the landing of its astronauts in 2025.
However, things do not seem to be moving at the desired pace and Elon Musk has not hidden his pessimism in recent hours about this launch. The fear of the billionaire is above all the destruction of the launch pad. “Tomorrow will probably not be a success, if by that we mean reaching orbit,” he said via his Twitter account a few hours before launch. “It would surely take several months to rebuild the launch pad if we melt it down,” he added. “If we get far enough away from the launch pad before there’s a problem, I’ll consider that a success.”
Because if the rocket carries no astronaut this time, the rocket has no less than 33 Raptor engines to take off this important mass. The failure of one of them could in turn lead to a gigantic explosion… The flight plan is nevertheless ambitious: takeoff of the complete rocket, uncoupling of the Super Heavy launcher three minutes after takeoff, this one having to fall in Caribbean waters, then put Starship into Earth orbit before falling back into the Pacific. If Starship is well designed to become a reusable rocket, this time no landing is planned. For Elon Musk, a take-off even without orbiting would already be a success… but time is running out for the Moon.
The last test dates from February 9, 2023 with a static test of the Super Heavy launch vehicle which should take astronauts to the Moon by the end of the decade aboard the Starship spacecraft. This test, which had been awaited for several months, consisted in operating all of the Raptor engines with which the launcher is equipped while keeping it on the ground. Only 31 out of 33 motors worked for the duration of the test, but Elon Musk said he was satisfied with the test and said that this power was enough to reach Earth orbit … the objective of the April 17 test 2023. The Super Heavy launcher that should become the most powerful ever is the one that the NASA chose to send astronauts to the Moon from the Artemis III mission. Before that, he should bring a crew of personalities into lunar orbit before bringing them back to Earth as part of the dearMoon project which should take place at the end of 2023. More ambitious, Elon Musk hopes that this rocket will one day make it possible to achieve a manned mission to Mars.
The Starship rocket SpaceX has been expected for several years and is somewhat behind schedule. In September 2022, the ultra-powerful launcher successfully ignited seven of its thirty-three engines for the first time. During the following November, fourteen of them were successfully tested. Finally, on February 9, 2023, 31 of the 33 launcher engines were successfully ignited simultaneously, making it possible to envisage an orbital flight for the month of March, finally postponed to April 17, 2023. The launch is scheduled for around 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m. French time and can be followed live on the SpaceX Youtube account or below!
What is SpaceX’s Starship?
The Starship is a rocket developed by the SpaceX company which is composed of a launcher, the Super Heavy, surmounted by the Starship spacecraft. It is on board the latter that the astronauts of the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions will land on lunar soil.
From a performance point of view, the Starship rocket is on the way to becoming the most powerful ever used and thus dethroning NASA’s SLS launcher. The entire rocket has a total of thirty-three Raptor engines. The upper part, the Starship, is designed to be available in different versions depending on the needs.
SpaceX’s Starship rocket is the largest and most powerful ever built. This rocket is composed of an extremely powerful launcher, the Super Heavy, capable of returning to land on Earth to serve again, surmounted by a Starship vessel which is also intended to be reusable. Its unrivaled power is achieved through thirty-three Raptor engines using liquid methane as fuel.
During takeoff, the first stage, named Super Heavy, propels the rocket into the sky. Once in the upper atmosphere, it detaches from the upper part, rotates and returns to land on Earth, spreading its feet for a soft landing. For its part, the upper part consisting of the Starship vessel, turns on its engines and continues its journey in space alone.
How big is Starship?
The Starship rocket measures a total of 120 meters high and 9 meters in diameter, making it the largest rocket ever built. It thus dethrones the Saturn V rocket which sent the first astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo missions. Its size is out of all proportion to NASA’s SLS launcher, which peaks at 98 meters in height once equipped with the capsule. Orion. Only the Starship, that is to say the upper part of the rocket, measures 50 meters high and weighs 1,200 tons.
How much does the Starship rocket cost?
SpaceX has not released the total price for the construction of the Starship rocket, but we know the amount of the contract that was signed between Elon Musk’s company and NASA for the various Artemis missions that involve SpaceX. Thus, for Artemis III, NASA paid 2.89 billion dollars. For Artemis IV and the new version of the Starship spacecraft, the contract amounts to 1.15 billion dollars.
In addition, the SpaceX company has unveiled the prices it hopes to be able to offer for its Starship rocket launch services. Elon Musk thus plans to break the prices of the space economy by proposing a price of 2 million dollars per flight while the SLS costs 2 billion dollars.