After significant setbacks during recent Starship missions, SpaceX rebounded and completed nearly all of its objectives during Starship’s 10th test flight.
SpaceX had been trying to launch the mission for the past several days, but pad problems and weather hindered launch operations. During the third day, all conditions were appropriate for the launch. Starship lifted off from Starbase at 6:30 PM CDT at the opening of the hour-long window. Weather was slated as 55% go.
Flight Profile
Following liftoff, the vehicle ascended over the Gulf. The hot-staging maneuver was successful, and 6 of Starship’s engines ignited to separate the two vehicles.
The two vehicles continued on their planned trajectories. The Super Heavy Booster completed a boostback burn and targeted successfully towards its planned landing zone. It conducted a landing burn, with one engine intentionally disabled, and hovered above the water prior top splashing down.
Starship continued with a full-duration ascent burn. Starship successfully deployed 8 Starling simulators for the first time, all of which followed the same path Starship was traveling. Starship completed the second ever in-space relight of a Raptor engine.
Starship was intentionally pushed to its limits to gather performance data and test the structural integrity of the vehicle. During reentry, Starship successfully conducted a landing flip, followed by a landing burn. Starship successfully splashed down.
What Went Wrong?
During flight 10, Starship achieved all of its main objectives. However, a few small anomalies were noted that did not alter the outcome of the mission.
-One engine on the Super Heavy Booster shut down early at T+1:33. It is unknown if that was planned or accidental.
-During reentry at around the T+47 minute mark, an explosion of unknown origin occurred in the engine department and severely damaged the aft skirt. This part of the rocket helps to protect the engines. It did not impact the ultimate landing.
What’s Next For the Starship Program?
SpaceX will absolutely analyze all the data from flight 10. As of now, flight 11 will reuse Booster 15 (which was successfully flown and caught during flight 8) and introduce Starship 38. It is expected to be the final launch of the block 2 variant, and could be the final launch from pad 1 at Starbase.
For now, the crews at SpaceX deserve the victory. After months of anomalies and setbacks, the flight profile was achieved to the dot. With SpaceX planning to conduct Starship operations at the Cape within the next few years, flight 10’s success is really significant to future space programs.
