Starship flight test 1

This article is about the 2023 full-up Starship+Super Heavy flight test. For the 2019 first flight test of the Starship segement, see List of Starship upper stage flight tests.

Starship flight test 1
Starship vehicle during its first flight
NamesIntegrated Flight Test-1
Mission typeFlight test
OperatorSpaceX
Mission duration3 minutes, 57 seconds (achieved)
90 minutes (planned)
Orbits completed0
<1 (planned)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftStarship Ship 24
Spacecraft typeStarship
ManufacturerSpaceX
Start of mission
Launch date13:33, April 20, 2023 (2023-04-20T13:33) UTC (8:33 am CDT)[1]
RocketSuper Heavy (B7)
Launch siteStarbase, OLP-A
End of mission
Destroyed13:37, April 20, 2023 (2023-04-20T13:37) UTC (8:37 am CDT)
Orbital parameters
RegimeTransatmospheric Earth orbit (planned)[citation needed]
Periapsis altitude−6,340 km (−3,940 mi) (achieved)[2]
50 km (31 mi) (planned)
Apoapsis altitude39 km (24 mi) (achieved)
250 km (160 mi) (planned)
Inclination26.4°[2]

Mission patch

Starship flight test 1 was the maiden flight of the integrated SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. SpaceX performed the flight test on April 20, 2023.[3] The prototype vehicle was destroyed less than four minutes after lifting off from the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.[4] The vehicle became the most powerful rocket ever flown, breaking the half-century-old record held by the Soviet Union's N1 rocket.[5] The launch was the first "integrated flight test," meaning it was the first time that both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft flew together as a fully integrated Starship launch vehicle.[6]

The launch was part of SpaceX's Starship development program, which follows an iterative and incremental approach involving frequent, and often destructive, test flights of prototype vehicles.[7] Before the launch, SpaceX officials said they would measure the mission's success "by how much we can learn" and that various planned mission events "are not required for a successful test".[8] The flight was generally regarded as having furthered Starship's development, and a variety of public officials congratulated SpaceX, including NASA administrator Bill Nelson and European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher.[9][10]

It was planned for the Starship spacecraft to complete nearly one orbit around the Earth before reentering the atmosphere, performing a controlled landing and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.[11] The Super Heavy booster was to have performed a similar landing in the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 mi (30 km) off the Texas coast about 8 minutes after liftoff.[11]

The rocket lifted off at 13:33 UTC (8:33 am CDT, local time at the launch site) from SpaceX's private launch site near Boca Chica, Texas. The liftoff damaged the launch pad[12] and its surrounding infrastructure,[13] which SpaceX said was unexpected.[14] Some debris spread into Boca Chica State Park. Three engines did not start or aborted before liftoff, and several others failed during the flight.[15] The vehicle passed max q and entered supersonic flight, but, due to a lack of thrust or thrust vector control, no attempt was made at stage separation.[15] Starship began to tumble, triggering the autonomous flight termination system (AFTS), which took 40 seconds to destroy the vehicle, nearly 4 minutes into the flight.[16][15]

After the test, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the launch program pending results of a standard “mishap investigation” overseen by the agency and performed by SpaceX.[17] The FAA said that a return to flight would depend on the agency's determination that future launches would not affect public safety.[18] In August 2023, SpaceX submitted to the FAA the 63 "corrective actions" that it would need to take before another Starship launch would be allowed.[19][20][21] Dust scattered by the launch initially caused some health concerns, but was later found by a laboratory to be ordinary beach sand, not posing a health hazard.[17][22]

A second flight test of the Starship vehicle occurred on November 18, 2023.[23] The launch did not repeat issues encountered on the first flight and the vehicle successfully performed stage separation, but both vehicles were lost thereafter.[24]

  1. ^ Wattles, Jackie; Vogt, Adrienne (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX's uncrewed Starship explodes on launch attempt". CNN. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  2. ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan (May 13, 2023). "Jonathan's Space Report No. 819" (TXT). Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference FoustLiftOff was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "SpaceX's gigantic Starship rocket blasts off and then explodes in its first test flight". NBC News. April 20, 2023. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Simpson 2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Berger, Eric (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX launches its massive Starship rocket for the first time". Ars Technica. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  7. ^ Wall, Mike (April 21, 2023). "What's next for SpaceX's Starship after its historic flight test?". Space.com. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  8. ^ "Upcoming: Starship Flight Test". SpaceX. April 19, 2023. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference NPR React was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Therrien 2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b Jones, Andrew (April 15, 2023). "SpaceX's 1st Starship and Super Heavy launch: How it will work". Space.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fallon & Aubourg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Dvorsky, George (April 20, 2023). "Powerful Blast from SpaceX's Starship Damages Launch Pad and Wrecks Nearby Minivan". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Foust230429 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b c Bergin, Chris (May 3, 2023). "Elon Musk pushes for orbital goal following data gathering objectives during Starship debut". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  16. ^ K, Jay (April 20, 2023). "SpaceX Starship Experiences Anomaly In Flight - TLP News". The Launch Pad. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  17. ^ a b Kolodny, Lora (April 24, 2023). "SpaceX Starship explosion spread particulate matter for miles". CNBC. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference FAA Statement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ "FAA Letter to SpaceX". September 8, 2023. Archived from the original on September 8, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  20. ^ "FAA Closes SpaceX Starship Mishap Investigation". Federal Aviation Administration. September 8, 2023. Archived from the original on November 20, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference SeptCNBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Leinfelder, Andrea (August 2, 2023). "SpaceX Starship sprinkled South Texas with mystery material. Here's what it was". Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  23. ^ Roulette, Joey (November 15, 2023). "US FAA okays SpaceX license for second launch of Starship Super Heavy". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  24. ^ @FAANews (November 18, 2023). "This information is preliminary and subject to change: A mishap occurred during the @SpaceX Starship OFT-2 launch from Boca Chica, Texas, on Saturday, Nov. 18. The anomaly resulted in a loss of the vehicle. No injuries or public property damage have been reported" (Tweet) – via Twitter.