Space X successfully completed the fourth test flight of its Starship mega-rocket

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Starship rocket SpaceX It completed its first full test flight Thursday, returning to Earth unexploded after taking off from Texas. This was the fourth time the world’s largest and most powerful rocket has ascended almost 211 kilometers in height.

Three previous demonstration flights ended in explosions. In this case, both the rocket and the spacecraft managed to land in a controlled manner, making the hour-long flight the longest and most successful to date.

“Despite the loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made a soft landing in the ocean!” – said the CEO of SpaceX! Elon Musk.

The Starship rocket was empty as it rose over the Gulf of Mexico and headed east toward the Indian Ocean. A few minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster separated from the spacecraft and landed in the Gulf of Mexico as planned. The spacecraft reached an altitude of almost 211 kilometerstraveling more than 26,000 km/hbefore starting to descend.

A successful flight, but not without incident

Although some parts of the spacecraft broke off during the intense heat of reentry, it remained intact enough to transmit data back to the landing site. planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The milestone is critical to the company’s plan to reuse the rocket that NASA and Musk hope to take humanity to the Moon and then to Mars.

SpaceX is working to avoid explosions during flights previous tests. They came close in March, but lost contact with the spacecraft as it left space and exploded before reaching its target. The launch vehicle also broke down mid-flight, 402 meters above the Gulf of Mexico.

Two test flights last year also ended in explosions shortly after takeoff from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. SpaceX has improved the software and made changes to the return flight of the rocket to increase your chances of success. The Federal Aviation Administration approved this fourth demonstration flight, ensuring all safety requirements were met.

Starship is designed to be completely reusable., so SpaceX aims to control the fuel entry into the Gulf of Mexico and the spacecraft’s descent into the Indian Ocean as practice for future landings. Nothing was discovered during the flight, but the success marks an important step toward the company’s ambitious space exploration goals.