SpaceX successfully deployed the first third-generation Starlink satellites on Friday using an improved version of its Starship prototype – the mega-rocket’s 13th test flight to date. But the company suffered another setback with the Super Heavy booster during a planned simulated landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
This is the second time the company has had problems with the Super Heavy booster in this V3 version of the Starship. On the first Starship V3 flight in May, SpaceX experienced a malfunction as the Starship’s Super Heavy booster separated from the rocket’s upper stage. After deploying the Starlink satellites, SpaceX was able to perform a simulated landing of the Starship’s upper stage during Friday’s launch.
The launch came just over a week after SpaceX attempted its 13th Starship launch. This attempt had to be stopped for some reason immediately after it ignited number of rocket engine failures. SpaceX said it replaced six engines before Friday’s flight to fix the problem.
During Friday’s launch, the booster moved closer to the planned takeoff, but failed to properly fire all the engines needed for its simulated landing. The booster exploded after a faster-than-expected impact with the water.
It was the first Starship launch since SpaceX went public in June the largest IPO in history. The company, which tested SpaceX’s “fly, fail, fix” approach to Starship development, saw its stock drop last week after the launch was suspended. The post-IPO downtrend is part of a larger downtrend that saw the company’s stock fall from a peak of more than $200 per share to $115 at the close of trading on Friday. In after-hours trading, SpaceX shares fell another 2% after the booster failure before recouping some of those losses.
SpaceX had better luck with the Starship V3 upper stage during Friday’s launch. During the first V3 launch in May, the upper stage lost its rocket motor. That didn’t happen this time, as the Starship ran into no problems deploying the new Starlinks. The craft, as the company called it, survived the harsh forces of atmospheric re-entry and made a simulated landing in the Indian Ocean about an hour after liftoff.
Unlike previous Starship missions, the Ship did not explode when it overturned. Ship instead floated in the waterIt gives SpaceX a chance to use a drone to take a closer look at the heat shield plates in its belly.
The Starship burned up in the atmosphere about 20 minutes after deploying the new Starlink satellites, still unable to reach Earth orbit. SpaceX was able to communicate with all of them while in space, a step forward for this program, which is the only profitable part of the company’s business.
The ability to deploy more capable V3 Starlink satellites improves the economics of the company’s capital-intensive space internet network. SpaceX said the launch of 60 of the new satellites on Starship represents a “potential twenty-fold increase” in landing capacity deployed by a single Falcon 9.
However, it’s unclear if SpaceX would be able to realize those gains if the Starship Super Heavy spent its booster instead of reusing it. Without a fully reusable Starship, SpaceX’s S-1 said progress on Starlink “will be at a slower pace and at a higher cost.”
With help from Tim Fernholz.
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