Starship completes first orbital flight
The Starship spacecraft, designed for manned flights to the Moon and Mars, launched on its first test orbital flight around Earth.
Consensus
- Starship completed its first orbital flight on September 28.
- The flight was conducted from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
- The Starship spacecraft was launched atop the Super Heavy rocket.
- The mission involved deploying 26 Starlink internet satellites.
- The spacecraft successfully soft-landed in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean.
- The flight was cut short from the planned 10 hours to approximately 3 hours.
- One of the Starship's engines failed during ascent, and two of Super Heavy's engines also failed.
- Despite engine failures, the mission was considered successful by SpaceX.
- This was the 14th test flight of the Starship-Super Heavy system.
- Previous flights were suborbital, making this the first full orbital flight.
Points of divergence
- Elon Musk evaluated the launch as successful despite several issues. — tg_radiosvoboda
- SpaceX did not disclose the reason for the early mission termination. — vesti
- The Super Heavy rocket successfully splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico nine minutes after launch. — interfax
- The Starship-Super Heavy system is over 120 meters tall and more powerful than NASA's SLS rocket. — interfax
- The spacecraft was expected to reach an altitude of about 275 km and complete six orbits around Earth. — riamo
- The flight was shortened after an engine failure during ascent. — interfax
Coverage (11 sources)
- Starship made first orbital flight — Радио Свобода
- Starship made its first full orbital flight and landed in the Pacific Ocean — Вести
- Spacecraft Starship launched on first orbital flight — РИАМО
- Starship ship exploded upon landing after orbital flight — Вести
- Starship ship successfully landed after orbital flight — Интерфакс
- SpaceX decided to cut short the test orbital flight of the Starship spacecraft — Интерфакс
- Spacecraft Starship launched for the first time into orbital flight — Вести
- Super Heavy rocket carrier launched Starship spacecraft into orbit and splashed down — Интерфакс
- Spacecraft Starship launched on its first orbital flight — Интерфакс
- Spacecraft Starship began first orbital flight — Коммерсантъ
- Spacecraft Starship will make its first orbital flight on Monday — Интерфакс
Key entities
- SpaceX
- Moscow
- Lune
- Mars
- INTERFAX.RU
- Zemlya
- Texas
- Pacific Ocean
- Starbase
- Boca-Chica
- Interfax
- Elon Musk
- X
- American
- Mexican Gulf