The launch took place at 8:25 am local time in southeast Texas, with over 1.5 million viewers tuning into the webcast.
The spacecraft, mounted atop its towering Super Heavy rocket booster, was due for liftoff as early as 8 am EDT (1200 GMT) from SpaceX’s Starbase launch site on the Gulf of Mexico near Boca Chica, Texas.
“Starship reached orbital velocity!” Musk said on X and congratulated the SpaceX team.
SpaceX’s Starship is a futuristic vehicle designed to eventually carry astronauts to the moon and beyond.
Elon Musk envisions Starship as a versatile spacecraft capable of missions to the moon and eventually Mars. Before crewed missions, the rocket is expected to undergo numerous uncrewed flights. Key milestones set by Nasa also need to be achieved for a successful moon landing with American astronauts.
Despite these ambitions, Starship is still far from being fully operational. Musk sees it as a successor to the Falcon 9 rocket for commercial launches. This test has already surpassed the previous tests, where the spacecraft exploded shortly after liftoff due to technical issues.
In the last test flight, the spacecraft managed to separate its stages but met a similar fate as the first flight. The path to operational readiness seems challenging, with technical hurdles still to overcome.
The upcoming test will be crucial in assessing Starship’s capabilities and bringing Musk’s vision closer to reality.
The spacecraft’s potential to revolutionize space travel is significant, but challenges persist. SpaceX remains optimistic about the future of Starship, despite the hurdles encountered in previous tests.
As the world watches the progress of Starship, the space industry anticipates the next steps in SpaceX’s ambitious journey towards interplanetary exploration. The test flight will be a pivotal moment in determining the future of the spacecraft and its role in shaping the future of space travel.
(With AFP inputs)