SpaceX is currently preparing for the third test launch of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever developed. A significant objective, which will provide, once in operation, the perfect means for round trips to interplanetary destinations, such as the Moon and Mars. For now, the first two tests didn’t exactly go in the best way: in both cases, in fact, the prototype exploded in flight before reaching orbit. However, SpaceX engineers have learned a lot from the attempts already carried out, and many important innovations are already planned for this third test flight, which should start on March 14th.
The flight plan released by SpaceX includes several in-orbit maneuvers that will simulate some of the operations that Starship will be capable of once it enters actual service. First of all, if the vehicle finally manages to reach orbit, a test firing of the engines in space will be carried out for the first time, with which the re-entry into the atmosphere will be prepared. Next, the systems necessary to return to the ground will also be tested: from heat shields to the maneuvers that will have to orient the rocket and slow down its descent.
During the stay in space, two fundamental checks are also planned: the opening of the launch hatch from which the satellites transported by Starship will be released into orbit in the future, and the transfer of propellant. This very delicate operation will be tested for now from one tank to another, but in the future it will be essential to refuel the ship in flight, whose design requires the need to refuel several times once it leaves the Earth’s atmosphere, to arrive to distant destinations such as the Moon.
Finally, the landing is expected in the Indian Ocean (unlike what was planned in the two previous tests), a choice – explained by SpaceX – linked to the need to use a new flight path that avoids dangers on the ground while Starship carries out the new tests. The goal, as we said, is to carry out the new test launch on March 14th, even if the official green light from the American Federal Aviation Administration is still missing.
The first Starship flight test dates back to April 2023, and lasted just 4 minutes, ending with the explosion of the rocket caused by an error in the separation phase of its two states. The second, last November, went a little better: the initial stages of takeoff were completed without problems, but the rocket still exploded about eight minutes after takeoff, due to a malfunction during an unloading maneuver. liquid oxygen. The hope, obviously, is to do a little better this time, also because the 2026 deadline, when SpaceX in theory committed to providing NASA with a functioning means to support the return of American astronauts to the Moon (with the Artemis program ) is getting closer and closer.