SpaceX plans to launch its Starship spacecraft into orbit for the fourth time on June 6 sometime after 7:00 am CDT. The day and time are tentative because SpaceX has yet to win FAA approval for the launch, but if you want to watch, here’s how.
So far, SpaceX has made three attempts at getting its futuristic Starship rocket into orbit, with varying degrees of success. The first flight ended in the rocket being blown up for safety reasons three minutes into the flight. The second ended with the first stage suffering engine failure and the second stage exploded at a height of 93 miles (150 km) after telemetry was lost. The third flight seemed to be much more successful until the first stage was lost when half its return engines refused to fire and the second stage was lost when attitude control failed on reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
SpaceX says that these failures are part of the development process, which includes testing the rockets to destruction. The company claims that it has learned new lessons from Flight 3, including the need for better fuel filtering systems and additional second stage thrusters to provide redundancy on reentry.
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The fourth flight aims to demonstrate how the Super Heavy first stage and the Starship second stage can return to Earth from orbit for a powered soft landing. No such landings will be attempted, but there will be a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico with the Super Heavy booster, and the Starship will try for controlled reentry and splashdown somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
If you wish to watch the next flight but haven’t the readies for a trip to SpaceX’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas, the SpaceX website will livestream the event and it will also be carried on the company’s X (formerly Twitter) account.
Source: New Atlas
