HomeEconomyNew successful test flight of the Starship megarocket

New successful test flight of the Starship megarocket

This metallic giant, more than 120 m high, the equivalent of a building of about 40 floors, rose in the middle of a thick cloud of smoke early in the afternoon in Texas.

The Starship megarocket that SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, is building to go to the Moon and Mars carried out a new successful test flight this Monday, but that may not be enough to silence critics, and experts fear delays in its development.

This metallic giant, more than 120 m high, the equivalent of a building of about 40 floors, rose in the middle of a thick cloud of smoke early in the afternoon in Texas.

After the two stages of the rocket separated in the air, SpaceX successfully carried out several tests and maneuvers on the booster and the spacecraft before ending its run in the waters as agreed, to loud applause from engineers who attended a broadcast on giant screens.

This eleventh test flight, carried out with full control like the previous one in August, allows the American company to move forward, after a dark series of tests in early 2025 marked by explosions in flight.

Space rivalries

But this success does not erase growing concerns about the progress of the rocket, which will make its first flights to Mars in 2026 and allow Americans to return to the Moon in 2027.

According to a recent analysis by a panel of independent experts, the modified version of Starship that will be used as a lunar landing module could arrive “years” late, further pushing back the schedule of NASA’s Artemis program.

And, therefore, there is a risk that the United States will be surpassed by China, a rival power that also aspires to send men to the Moon by 2030.

As things stand, “it is very unlikely that we will go to the Moon before China,” Jim Bridenstine, former NASA director, warned a Senate committee in September, urging Washington to develop a plan B.

The stakes are all the more important as the Trump administration speaks openly of a “new space race,” this time against China, echoing the one it led against the USSR during the Cold War.

“Thousands of technical challenges”

Despite the criticism, Elon Musk, known for his very optimistic forecasts, continues to show his confidence in this megarocket, the most powerful ever built, although there are still, by his own admission, “thousands of technical challenges” to overcome.

The world’s richest man and former close adviser to US President Donald Trump has already revolutionized the space sector with his mass-produced reusable rockets and now dominates the commercial launch market.

With Starship, designed for interplanetary travel, it aims even further, seeking to demonstrate technical maneuvers never before achieved.

After having managed to recover the rocket propellant upon landing using gigantic mechanical arms a year ago, he hopes to soon be able to reach the ship and refuel his rocket in space.

There are so many technical challenges that it aims to address thanks to the repeated launch of multiple prototypes.

A method that has been successful so far, but this time could run into the limitations of the American lunar program, especially because Elon Musk has expressed several times his desire to favor the red planet, his personal obsession, to the detriment of the Moon.

Author: OC with AFP
Source: BFM TV

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