Starship launch - live: SpaceX launches and lands world’s biggest rocket in crucial test of Mars ambitions
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
SpaceX has successfully launched its massive Starship rocket, in what was a critical test of Elon Musk’s hopes of colonising Mars.
The 120-metre rocket is the biggest and most powerful spacecraft ever built, capable of producing 7.5 million kilograms of thrust – roughly double that of Nasa’s Space Launch System (SLS).
The fourth major flight test saw both parts of the rocket return to Earth for the first ime, with the Super Heavy booster splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico and the main Starship making it all the way to the Indian Ocean.
It came less than three months after SpaceX launched a Starship prototype into orbit but failed to return it to Earth.
SpaceX said that “data was the payload” for today’s mission, hailing it as a success despite not being able to recover the rocket. Elon Musk described it as an “epic achievement.
”You can watch a live stream of the Starship launch below.
We have splashdown!
We’ve just had the first ever successful splashdown of the Super Heavy booster. The typically enthusiastic SpaceX team are suitably excited by the giant rocket firing up its landing burn and reaching the water without exploding.
Here’s how it looked coming down:
And a shot of the SpaceX team celebrating:
Starship coasting over the Atlantic
There’s going to be a 20 minute break on the live stream while Starship coasts across the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.
There’s currently no signal in these parts of planetary orbit, but SpaceX hopes to equip future versions of the rocket with its Starlink satellite internet that will provide non-stop coverage.
When the stream starts up again we can expect an attempt at a flip manouvre, reentry and hopefully a soft splash down in the Indian Ocean.
In the mean time we’re treated to Johann Strauss’s The Blue Danube, a waltz that was used by Stabley Kubrick in his epic 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Interest doesn’t appear to be dropping off, with 2 million people now tuned into the live stream.
Watch the moment the Super Heavy booster returned to Earth
Here’s the moment Starship’s Super Heavy booster successfully splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, before toppling over.
Super Heavy has splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico pic.twitter.com/hIY3Gkq57k
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024
Watch the Starship hot stage separation
While we wait for the live stream to return, here’s the moment Starship separated from its Super Heavy booster:
Hot stage jettison pic.twitter.com/J48QtQD1Ae
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024
Starship begins descent
Starship is now making its way back to Earth, with its altitude dropping back below 100 kilometres.
Travelling at more than five times the speed of sound, the plasma around the ship is beginning to build as it approaches the Earth’s atmosphere.
Starship approaches reentry
If Starship survives reentry - which it didn’t last time - then it will need to perform a flip manoeuvre before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
Plasma is really building up now as it approaches “peak-heating”.
Starship flaps burning off
We’re at 52km altitude and one of the flaps appears to be on fire.
SpaceX reminds us that the data is the payload on today’s test flight.
Starship camera lens cracks
Debris is flying off Starship now, and even the camera lens has cracked. Remarkably, the craft has made it to an altitude of 45km and we still have live views.
“We can’t really tell how much of the ship is left,” SpaceX says.
Starship holding together
Starship is somehow still holding together, though it’s hard to tell from the live stream what is actually happening.
There should be a flip manoeuvre right about now but the camera is so broken that it’s impossible to tell. The team at SpaceX is cheering as it passes through 10km altitude.
“It’s probably hanging on by a couple of bolts and threads,” one of SpaceX’s live stream commentator says.
Starship flight test comes to an end
“Starship is in the water,” SpaceX says.
Starship somehow managed to do a landing burn having made it through reentry. It is now floating, probably in many pieces, in the Indian Ocean.
Despite the chaotic ending to the flight test, that can be considered a success for SpaceX. Starship made it further than ever before, as did its Super Heavy booster.
The SpaceX team certainly seem happy about it:
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments