SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — SpaceX's Starship megarocket, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, reached orbital speed for the first time Thursday in a historic third test flight from South Texas.Starship's primary objective is to lower launch costs significantly via economies of scale. This is achieved by reusing both rocket stages, increasing payload mass to orbit, increasing launch frequency, creating a mass-manufacturing pipeline, and adapting it to a wide range of space missions.People believe that exotic new propulsion systems are needed to reduce the one way trip times from Earth to Mars from 180-270 days down to 45 days each way. The slower mission times are for chemical rockets where we barely get out of Earth orbit with a small rocket engine.

How fast will Starship be : 17,500 miles per hour

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said a primary goal of these early test flights is to get Starship to orbital speeds — velocities quick enough to allow the spacecraft to enter a stable orbit around Earth. Typically, such a feat requires speeds topping 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour).

Why did Starship 3 fail

During the test, multiple first-stage engines failed and the rocket began to tumble. Engineers activated a self-destruct mechanism while the ship was in mid-air.

Did Starship 3 burn up : SpaceX never intended to recover the ship, which was nearing a planned entry into the Indian Ocean minutes later. It presumably either burned up or came apart during re-entry. “The ship has been lost.

As part of NASA's Artemis campaign to return humans to the Moon for the benefit of all, the agency is working with SpaceX to develop the company's Starship human landing system (HLS), which will land astronauts near the Moon's South Pole during the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions.

12, Musk said the failure was linked to venting liquid oxygen propellant near the end of the burn. That venting, he said, was needed only because the vehicle was not carrying any payload. “Flight 2 actually almost made it to orbit,” he said.

Can Starship go to the moon

Starship is the landing system that will bring astronauts to the lunar surface with the Artemis 3 mission, no earlier than 2026.Starship HLS (Human Landing System) is a lunar lander variant of the Starship spacecraft that is slated to transfer astronauts from a lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back.As part of NASA's Artemis campaign to return humans to the Moon for the benefit of all, the agency is working with SpaceX to develop the company's Starship human landing system (HLS), which will land astronauts near the Moon's South Pole during the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions.

So, light-speed travel and faster-than-light travel are physical impossibilities, especially for anything with mass, such as spacecraft and humans.

What went wrong with Starship 2 : 9/10 engines were initially relit. During the boostback burn, a LOX filter blockage occurred and resulted in progressive engine failures which led to the destruction of the booster. At T+7:05, a planned vent of liquid oxygen caused several explosions and fires.

Was Starship 3 a success : The Starship's third test was a success not because it met all of its objectives but because it advanced the day when the largest rocket ship that has ever flown will change the face of space travel forever. The fourth test flight will likely meet more objectives, as well the fifth and the sixth and so on.

What’s next for Starship

Starship has soared into the heavens. Together, we are making great strides through Artemis to return humanity to the moon — then look onward to Mars," NASA chief Bill Nelson said via X today. Starship's first crewed moon landing for NASA is scheduled to take place in September 2026, on the agency's Artemis 3 mission.

Starship Overview

Starship is the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.If all goes according to plan, Starship will put astronauts down on the moon for the first time on the Artemis 3 mission, which is tentatively scheduled to lift off in September 2026. A lot more work, and many more test flights, will be needed to get Starship ready to carry astronauts in deep space.

Will Artemis 3 use Starship : The crew of Artemis III will ride to lunar orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft, where Orion will dock with the Starship human landing system in preparation for their journey to the lunar surface. Orion is the only spacecraft capable of returning crews to Earth at lunar reentry velocities.