SpaceX's Starship Flight 10 was a resounding success in every form of the word as the firm met all major test flight objectives. Flight 10 lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas, at 6:30 pm local time and saw the booster and the ship successfully splash down in their designated landing locations. The test was a major breakthrough for SpaceX as the firm has struggled with the rocket's upper stage ship throughout this year, either failing to achieve a suborbital trajectory or entering the Earth's atmosphere in a controllable fashion.
SpaceX Meets All Test Objectives With Starship Flight 10 To Pave The Way For Quick Future Tests
After liftoff, all 33 engines on the Super Heavy booster lit up successfully to send the rocket on its way to space. However, close to the minute-and-a-half mark, one engine on the Super Heavy booster failed and was unable to relight throughout the booster's flight. The engine shutdown was a minor anomaly in an otherwise majorly successful booster flight that saw the rocket meet all of its flight objectives.
During Starship Flight 10, the Super Heavy booster successfully departed from the second stage ship, reignited its engines for a boost back and then a landing burn and splashed down in the Gulf. SpaceX's presenter, Dan Huot, explained that the firm had relaxed the angle of attack condition of the rocket on Flight 10, which made it likely that the rocket would successfully splash down. During Flight 9, the booster failed to splash down as SpaceX lost the rocket before it approached the water.
The star of the show, as had been with previous launches as well, was the upper stage Starship. SpaceX had a jam-packed list of tests for the ship as it had intended to ignite a Raptor engine in space, launch Starlink simulator satellites and test new heatshield tiles with the rocket. All three tests were a resounding success as not only did the ship successfully launch the satellites, but it also lit up a Raptor engine in space for the second such test.
The two tests marked a significant milestone as SpaceX had been unable to launch the satellites so far and had to abort the engine ignition on the second-generation Starship upper stage. Following the engine ignition, the next test was of the heat shield during atmospheric reentry.
Starship's heat shield is the first of its kind, designed to be reusable to increase the rocket's launch cadence. SpaceX intentionally stressed the ship during reentry by removing tiles on critical locations, but despite this, the rocket managed to successfully splash down in the Indian Ocean.
The ship successfully splashed down despite one of its lower flaps being damaged during the reentry phase. It landed on the water after completing a flip maneuver, which requires extensive use of the four flaps present on the ship. The ship splashed down an hour and six minutes after liftoff for a fully successful test flight.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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