Sci-Tech

The 10th test flight of 'Starship' attracts attention for its future prospects

2025-08-25   

The new generation heavy carrier rocket "Starship" of SpaceX is scheduled to launch its tenth test flight mission on the evening of the 24th local time. The "Starship" has had three test flights this year, all of which ended in spacecraft disintegration or booster explosions. CNN believes that the upcoming test flight is like a "gamble of fate" for the Starship, attracting attention from all sides. According to the website of SpaceX, the "Starship" will enter its test flight window at 18:30 Central Time on the 24th (7:30 Beijing Time on the 25th). At that time, the "Starship" carrying 8 simulated satellites will be launched from southern Texas, with the plan to achieve the following goals: the "Super Heavy" booster that provides initial power will detach and be controlled to splash into the waters near Texas, the second stage spacecraft will enter space, the spacecraft will reignite its engines and deploy the simulated satellites it carries. In the three test flights conducted by the Starship this year, none of the aforementioned tasks have been completed. This test flight will no longer repeat the operation of "chopstick holding rocket". In January and March of this year, after the launch of the "Starship", the booster returned to the launch site and was "clamped" in mid air by the mechanical arm on the launch tower, successfully capturing and recovering the booster. The repeated failed test flights of the Starship not only fail to quell long-standing criticism of the project, but also spark new opposition. Mexican President Claudia Simbaum said in June that she is investigating the crash of the Starship rocket wreckage and considering filing a corresponding lawsuit under international law. The British government issued a statement on the 21st of this month stating that it is in contact with the United States to protect the security of its overseas territories, including the Turks and Caicos Islands located in the Caribbean Sea. The wreckage of the "Starship" test flight in January this year fell onto the highway of the archipelago. Some industry insiders believe that multiple failed test flights indicate that the Starship rocket may not be reliable. This also raises doubts about whether the US return to the moon mission in 2027 can proceed as scheduled, and whether Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, can realize his ambition to explore Mars. Dallas Kasabasky, a space affairs analyst at Mason Research, a British consulting firm, said that the Starship has undergone multiple test flights, but "success is less than failure", which cannot prove the reliability of the rocket. Therefore, this test flight mission is under great pressure. Commentator Will Lokett, who comes from an engineering background, believes that the design concept of the "Starship" is "fundamentally flawed" due to the lack of heavy load testing in previous test flights. He said that in order to carry sufficient payload, the "Starship" has a relatively light weight, which has led to structural failures in recent test flights. Garrett Lesman, a former astronaut at NASA and professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California, said it is currently difficult to predict how the Starship will end. He said that 'starships' may not work at all, but they could also completely revolutionize human exploration of the universe. The Starship rocket has a total length of about 120 meters and a diameter of about 9 meters. It consists of two parts, the first stage is a rocket booster about 70 meters long, and the second stage is the Starship spacecraft. Both stages are designed to be reusable. The rocket made its first test flight in April 2023, with the design goal of delivering people and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and even Mars. NASA plans to restart the return to the moon program as early as mid-2027, when American astronauts will take off on the Starship rocket. On the 13th of this month, US President Trump signed an executive order aimed at cultivating a competitive commercial aerospace industry and ensuring that the United States maintains a leading position in this field. Media reports generally believe that space exploration technology companies will be the biggest beneficiaries of this executive order. Musk has repeatedly complained that environmental impact assessments and flight accident investigations have caused delays in testing the Starship. Janet Petro, former acting director of NASA, said she is willing to "bet" on the "Starship". Although there have been many twists and turns this year, Space Exploration Technology Company is a very serious and proactive enterprise

Edit:Momo Responsible editor:Chen zhaozhao

Source:Xinhua News Agency

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