Did you catch SpaceX's 11th Starship test flight on Monday? If not, here's the lowdown! 🚀
Launching from SpaceX's Texas facility, the two-stage rocket took off with the Starship upper stage riding atop its Super Heavy booster. After boosting Starship into orbit, the Super Heavy returned and did a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico before self-destructing, testing its landing engines along the way.
Like the August mission, this flight also dropped mock Starlink satellites, reignited engines in space, and checked how heat shield tiles handle re-entry heat before the stage splashed down near Australia. 🔥
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy summed it up on X as "another major step toward landing Americans on the moon's south pole." 🌙
Next up: an upgraded Starship prototype packed with docking adapters and gear for orbital refueling—a process where two Starships dock in space to transfer hundreds of tons of super-cooled fuel. This version is expected to launch by year-end or early next year, paving the way for full-on moon and Mars missions. 🌍➡️🚀
For space fans from Bangalore to Jakarta, this is huge—our ride to the moon and beyond is getting real! ✨
Reference(s):
SpaceX completes 11th Starship test before debuting upgraded prototype
cgtn.com
