Failed attempt. This was the result of the first flight test of the most powerful space rocket ever created. The Starship, a giant 120 meters high and nine meters in diameter created by Elon Musk, has not been able to take off due to technical problems. “It seems that a pressurization valve has frozen,” the tycoon himself explained on Twitter, adding that they will try again in a few days. Scheduled for 3:20 p.m., the launch stopped with just 40 seconds left until the countdown ended. This gadget is key for future missions to take astronauts to the Moon and Mars.
In this first test flight, the latest rocket developed by Space its journey in Hawaiian waters. It had to take 90 minutes to complete this route. The device not only breaks the mold due to its size or power, but also because the two parts that make it up, the propellant and the spacecraft itself, are reusable. This is intended to reduce costs. Musk has even stated that the ship could be launched every six or eight hours and the propulsion system every hour.
33 engines
Super Heavy is the name with which the latter has been baptized. 69 meters high, it is made up of 33 engines fueled by methane and will break off once outside the Earth to fall into the Gulf of Mexico. The first firing tests took place on August 9 of last year. So only one of them came into operation. In November, 14 were lit and just over two months ago, on February 9, 31 of the 33 were lit. Its power is five times greater than that of the Falcon Heavy, the most powerful to date, which was launched by the Musk himself in 2018.
The ship itself is called Starship – by extension, it gives its name to the entire rocket. Measuring 50 meters high and nine meters in diameter, it would carry the crew and the payload, although this time it will be empty. After nine attempts that ended with the device destroyed, the first flight test that ended successfully was in May 2021. It then rose ten kilometers and managed to land intact. When in orbit, it will be powered by six engines prepared to operate in a vacuum.
Musk’s project to manufacture a heavy rocket dates back to 2005. The aim was to be able to put 100 tons of cargo into orbit. The capacity of ‘Starship’ is superior, as it reaches 150. With its size, it surpasses both the Space Launch System and the Saturn V, both from NASA, and the Soviet N1. «There is a good chance that it will be postponed, since we are going to be very careful with this launch. “There are many things that can go wrong,” the tycoon warned this Sunday. He was right.