On Thursday, March 14, 2024, SpaceX conducted the third integrated flight test (IFT-3) of its ambitious Starship system, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. The launch from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, marked a significant step forward in the development of this reusable transportation system designed for deep space exploration and eventual human settlement on Mars.
Pushing the Envelope
The IFT-3 mission represented a significant step up in complexity and ambition compared to the previous two Starship test flights. While the first flight in April 2023 lasted only four minutes and the second in November 2023 achieved a successful hot-staging exercise, IFT-3 aimed to demonstrate a range of critical capabilities, including in-space propellant transfer, payload bay door operation, and the first-ever Raptor engine relight in space.
SpaceX’s willingness to push the envelope and attempt multiple ambitious objectives in a single test flight reflects the company’s iterative approach to development, where frequent flight testing and learning from failures are embraced as part of the process.
Liftoff and Separation
After a brief delay due to high winds and the need to clear shrimping boats from the keep-out zone in the Gulf of Mexico, the 394-foot-tall (120-meter) Starship/Super Heavy stack took flight at 8:25 a.m. CDT. The 33 Raptor engines of the Super Heavy booster ignited, generating a staggering 16.7 million pounds (7.5 million kilograms) of thrust, propelling the vehicle skyward.
Approximately three and a half minutes into the flight, the Starship successfully separated from the Super Heavy booster, a critical milestone known as “hot-staging.” The booster then executed a “boost-back” burn to begin its controlled descent towards the Gulf of Mexico.
Super Heavy Booster Failure During Reentry
During the booster’s attempted reentry and landing burn, a failure occurred, leading to its destruction. SpaceX later reported that the Super Heavy booster successfully lit several engines for its first-ever landing burn, but the vehicle experienced a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” (RUD) at an altitude of approximately 462 meters (1,516 feet), just under seven minutes into the mission.
Starship’s Milestones
After separation, the Starship continued its ascent, powered by its six Raptor engines. At an altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers), the vehicle crossed the internationally recognized Kármán Line, the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.
During its coast phase in space, Starship achieved several significant objectives:
- Payload Bay Door Operation: The vehicle successfully demonstrated the opening and closing of its payload bay doors, a crucial capability for future missions involving the deployment of satellites or other payloads.
- Propellant Transfer Demonstration: SpaceX successfully conducted a propellant transfer test, a critical step towards enabling in-space refueling, which is essential for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.
- Raptor Engine Relight: Starship did not attempt its planned on-orbit relight of a single Raptor engine due to vehicle roll rates during the coast phase.
Controlled Reentry and Loss of Starship
After completing these milestones, Starship was scheduled to perform a controlled reentry and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. However, during the reentry phase, SpaceX lost communication with the vehicle, and it was ultimately lost, presumably burning up or breaking apart due to the intense heat and forces experienced during atmospheric reentry.
Despite the loss of the vehicle, SpaceX hailed the mission as a significant success, with Gwynne Shotwell, the company’s president, tweeting: “Huge congratulations to the entire team for this incredible day. Clean count (glad the shrimpers could get out in the nick of time), liftoff, hot staging, Super Heavy boost-back and coast (and likely a couple engines making landing burn), clean ship insertion and coast, payload bay door cycling and prop transfer demo (to be confirmed) and ship entry.”
Paving the Way for Future Missions
Despite the loss of the vehicle, the data and lessons learned from IFT-3 will prove invaluable as SpaceX continues to refine and improve the Starship system. The successful demonstration of key capabilities, such as propellant transfer and payload bay door operation, brings the company closer to achieving its ultimate goal of enabling sustainable human exploration and settlement on Mars.
Moreover, the IFT-3 mission has significant implications for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface. SpaceX has been contracted by NASA to develop a variant of Starship, known as the Human Landing System (HLS), to transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back. The successful demonstration of propellant transfer during IFT-3 addresses one of NASA’s immediate concerns regarding the feasibility of using Starship for lunar missions.
Looking Ahead
With the data and experience gained from IFT-3, SpaceX is expected to continue its rapid iteration and testing cycle, with plans for at least six more Starship flights from Boca Chica, Texas, in 2024, according to Elon Musk, the company’s CEO.
As the Starship program progresses, SpaceX is also working towards establishing a dedicated launch complex for the system in Florida.
However, before Starship can launch from Florida, it must undergo further testing and environmental reviews to ensure public safety and compliance with regulations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will play a crucial role in this process, closely monitoring the development and testing of the Starship system to ensure it meets all necessary safety standards.
Conclusion
SpaceX’s Starship IFT-3 mission, while ending in the loss of the vehicle, represents a significant achievement in the development of this ambitious and groundbreaking transportation system. The successful demonstration of critical capabilities, such as propellant transfer, and payload bay door operation, brings humanity one step closer to sustainable deep space exploration and eventual human settlement on Mars.
As SpaceX continues to push the boundaries of what is possible, the lessons learned from IFT-3 will undoubtedly shape the future of the Starship program and pave the way for even more ambitious missions in the years to come.