SpaceX's Starship 9th Test Flight Recap: Milestones Achieved Amidst New Anomalies
STARBASE, Texas: SpaceX launched the 9th test flight of their Starship rocket, lifting off on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at 6:36 PM Central Time (CT) from the Orbital Launch Mount 1 at Starbase. The test flight utilized two vehicles from their inventory: Booster 14-2, which was flying for the second time, and Ship 35, the third Starship V2 to attempt a full-duration mission. These vehicles have enabled SpaceX to achieve new milestones in its goal of developing reusable rockets with its Super Heavy booster while also learning new lessons with its Starship V2 as it reaches new milestones on its own.
During the flight, SpaceX made a list of things to test on this attempt. Aside from Booster 14-2 being reused and tested to its limits for the second time, involving 29 out of 33 Raptor engines on its previous flight, they also planned to make sure that Starship V2 survived for a longer duration than its last two flights, reaching SECO at the very least. The mission also aims to deploy eight Starlink dummy satellites and demonstrate an in-space burn, after which new heatshield systems will be tested as the Ship reenters the atmosphere prior to its splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Let us recap if SpaceX achieved these goals and what awaits them on the subsequent test flights.
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Starship takes to the skies
After two brief holds at T-40 seconds due to issues with the ground support equipment, lasting a total of 6 minutes, Starship lifted off on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at 6:36 PM Central Time (CT). All 33 Raptor engines turned on below Booster 14-2, securing the first milestone for this second-flown Booster. The climb to the skies was smooth, with the rocket reaching Max-Q approximately a minute after liftoff. The engines remained running during the entire duration of the burn, securing another achievement for this reused Booster.
Hot-staging and ship separation
As Booster 14 neared the end of its full-duration burn, it shut off all but 3 of its remaining engines. This procedure subsequently allowed the Ship to turn on its six Raptor engines in its second stage, allowing it to fly away on its own. As this was happening, the Booster also conducted a directional staging, a first of its kind as SpaceX knew where the Booster would face after staging, saving fuel for higher payload mass to orbit in the future.
Booster boost-back burn & landing
While Ship 35 went its way, Booster 14 restarted its 13 inner Raptor engines, allowing it to conduct its partial boost-back burn towards the Gulf of Mexico / Gulf of America. The procedure was performed successfully, as the shutdown of these engines was repeated once again in preparation for the landing attempt. It was then positioned at a higher angle of attack, which allowed SpaceX to test a slower descent speed for the Booster, requiring less propellant for the initial landing burn. This process occurs as more aerodynamic drag comes into play, allowing them to refine the performance of their future vehicles further.
After a few minutes of descent towards the atmosphere, while approaching the splashdown site, Booster 14 re-ignited 12 out of 13 of its Raptor engines for a split second; then, it encountered a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD) during this maneuver. This anomaly officially marked the end of the first reuse of a Super Heavy booster, which is considered a complete success, as it sent Ship 35 towards its desired separation area. SpaceX has not yet confirmed the cause of the anomaly, but rest assured that if any updates become available, we will discuss them in a future article.
Ship 35 achieves new milestones
Following a successful stage separation, Ship 35 ignited six of its Raptor engines. Approximately 6 to 7 minutes later, Ship 35 turned off its engines in a staggered manner, just as SpaceX had planned to do in the last few flights. The first engines to shut off were the three Raptor Vacuum (RVac) engines, followed by the three Sea Level Raptor engines approximately 20 seconds later. All engines shut off at approximately T+8 minutes and 56 seconds, which officially marks the most significant success of Starship V2 since the past two consecutive failed flights.
Doorjam in space
Approximately 18 minutes into the flight, SpaceX attempted to open the door of the payload bay section. As the attempt progressed, however, the commentators confirmed that the teams had canceled this procedure. They would instead proceed directly to attempt the relighting of one Raptor engine after Ship 35 coasts for a while in space.
Fuel leaks on Ship 35
One problem that occurred during this portion of the flight, however, was that, according to SpaceX, a fuel leak was observed developing in one section of Ship 35. The commentators stated that a fuel leak had been detected in the tank, which was later confirmed as the flight progressed. SpaceX has not yet confirmed the cause of the leaks or when or where they started, but rest assured that if any updates become available, we will discuss them in a future article.
Some say that the fuel leaks started before Ship 35 shut off its engines, but this has yet to be confirmed. Visuals may even show particles emanating from the engine section of the rocket, which could be the source of the leaks. Nevertheless, the leaks caused the loss of attitude control for Ship 35, as it appeared to have started spinning slightly after the engine cutoff, which meant they faced a more significant problem ahead.
In-space relight canceled
As fuel leaks continued, the Ship losing its attitude control became more evident as the orientation of the Ship started spinning without a way to stop it. This effect was apparent in the telemetry data, which showed that the Ship was pointing in all directions as it further lost control. This occurrence led SpaceX teams to skip the Raptor in-space relight demo overall, as the Ship was uncontrollable.
The demise of Ship 35
As Ship 35 continued spinning, all eyes were on it as the plasma started building up around the rocket. Plasma started building up around 110 km, while Ship 35 had no hope of being controllable again. Ship 35 "survived for a long time" in Starship Flight 3 fashion, though, as Starlink kept providing live footage and telemetry data despite the uncontrollable spin. Live footage kept losing connection and dropping out intermittently, with the last footage captured at approximately 63 km in altitude.
The last telemetry data show that Ship 35 was at an altitude of 59.3 km while reentering at a velocity of 24,482 km/h, with a mission time of approximately T+46 minutes and 48 seconds. This final piece of data officially marked the end of Starship Flight 9, with its demise occurring approximately above the Indian Ocean in an area previously cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other participating agencies.
Was this better than the previous flights?
The answer is YES! In a majority of Starship flights, each flight that passes by is always better than the one that came before it. Firstly, this mission reused Booster 14-2 for the first time, a step towards Superheavy Booster reusability and full reusability in the future! On the other hand, Ship 35 broke the curse of the past two Starship V2 flights, which had failed at the same portion of the flight and had their own set of unique issues specifically before they shut off their engines smoothly.
Therefore, in terms of progress, this has been a partial success, as SpaceX has completed some of the goals it needed to achieve, with the rest failing due to its pursuit of pushing things to their limits, a regular occurrence during each testing phase of rocket development. We hope that SpaceX resolves the issues encountered during this flight as soon as possible, as more Starship missions are expected this year, including tests that may impact the schedule of the NASA Artemis program, which aims to send the first American people to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Delays are possible at this stage, but we remain optimistic about the best outcome.
When is Starship Flight 10?
According to Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, he expects Starship Test Flight 10 to launch in approximately a month, with a faster launch cadence for the subsequent flights, launching at least once every three to four weeks. However, as always, take this with a grain of salt, as spaceflight fans are familiar with the concept of Elon time, where his dates are somewhat inaccurate at times.
This is KYNNMASTER 123 for The Weekly Spaceman, see you in the next one! 😁
