SpaceX Starship performed a new flight test. This time the Super Heavy booster failed to dock with the Mechazilla turret. However, spectators, including Donald Trump, were able to witness another Starship splashdown.
This was the sixth launch . On Tuesday, November 19, SpaceX , the space company launched by Elon Musk, organized a new test for Starship . This is the name given to the structure formed by the Starship spaceship and the Super Heavy rocket: it is the largest launch vehicle ever built in human history. Elon Musk , founder of SpaceX, and Donald Trump , now president-elect of the United States, were present at the launch . Elon Musk will eventually have an official role in his new government .
The last test had amazed the spectators. For the first time, the Super Heavy booster had re-entered the atmosphere to be filmed while still in flight by a turret. A success that seemed impossible, especially since it was the first attempt in the testing phase. Francesco Topputo , professor of Space Systems at the Polytechnic of Milan, explained : “It has changed access to Space” .
This time the docking with the metal rods from the Mechazilla .On the other hand, it was possible to see a new splashdown of Starship , returned from its journey in Space to land in the sea. The spaceship landed in the Indian Ocean after pouring the power of its engines on the water. On October 14, Starship had also performed a splashdown .
Starship Test Results
The entire test, it is better to remember, was organized without a crew . According to Elon Musk, once Starship is developed it could play a fundamental role in the plan to land on Mars . Before arriving for the first time on a new planet, the technologies developed with Starship will have a fundamental role in the very near future. SpaceX is working with NASA on the Artemis program which in 2026 should bring man back to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission . The last landing on the Moon was on December 14, 1972 .