SpaceX celebrates third launch of massive Starship rocket despite loss of contact

BOCA CHICA, Tex. — SpaceX teams are now combing through the data from their third successful Starship launch.

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Though Space lost contact with the massive rocket after lift-off, the company is still celebrating several achievements.

Thursday’s flight test was critical for future plans to get people back to the moon.

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At around 9:25 a.m. Eastern time, the Starship and its heavy booster lifted off from a Starbase launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas.

That super heavy booster was expected to make a controlled landing in the ocean. Instead, it broke up over the Gulf of Mexico.

It was still the fastest and farthest that Starship has ever flown.

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SpaceX’s Starship did reach its coasting altitude, where the launch team was able to open the ship’s payload door.

“That’s important for SpaceX because they want to use this to eject Starlink, sort of like a Pez container, into outer space,” Space UpClose’s Dr. Ken Kremer explained. “This is what will launch dozens and dozens of them instead of just 23.”

SpaceX was also able to collect re-entry data on the Starship’s heat shield before losing contact with the ship.

SpaceX is developing a version of its starship as a human lander for NASA to transport astronauts to the lunar surface during the Artemis III mission as soon as 2026. It’s also the ship SpaceX envisions will bring humans beyond the moon to Mars.

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SpaceX says it’ll take their teams time to determine if everything worked as expected Thursday.

Meanwhile, Starship and Super Heavy vehicles are already being prepared or future flights.

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