As any SpaceX follower knows Starship has enormous potential, something made manifest on its second test flight on November 18. NASA was jubilant with the latest flight test of this Super Heavy Lift (SHL) vehicle, which produces roughly twice the thrust at liftoff as the Saturn V moon rocket.
“Congrats to the teams who made progress on today’s flight test. Spaceflight is a bold adventure demanding a can-do spirit and daring innovation. Today’s test is an opportunity to learn—then fly again. Together NASA and SpaceX will return humanity to the Moon, Mars & beyond.” ~ NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
Despite what was said by mainstream media, there was a great deal to celebrate from this event, so let’s cut through the noise and examine the signal.
Flight test goldmine
SpaceX are a practical space development company, so they prefer to learn from practical tests of their epic launch vehicles. The telemetry they collected from this flight constitutes a data goldmine, something their engineers will completely immerse themselves in for weeks to come. No doubt the FAA will want to parse SpaceX’s investigation report before they approve the next test flight but given the abundance of data and vehicles available...hopefully this shouldn’t take long.
Hot-Staging
Hot-staging is the process of separating the upper stage while the booster engines are still running, albeit at reduced thrust. This stage separation technique is completely new to SpaceX so attempting it at Starship’s scale was an enormous risk – but one that paid off. Like we have seen many times before, they got it right first time, which was an enormous triumph. For example: NASA seem keen to use Starship for Mars missions, which will require a launch abort system in case the booster fails. Hot-staging could be used to separate Starship at any point during the boost phase of the flight, allowing the crew to land safely at sea downrange.
Flight termination system
After the booster stage completed its task of sending the Starship upper stage into space it unfortunately suffered engine issues and subsequently broke up. Similarly the Starship also encountered problems as it neared maximum altitude which led to its premature demise. Considering the altitude each stage attained and the thoroughness of their dissolution, it seems likely the Automated Flight Termination System (AFTS) was used, when the onboard computers determined they couldn’t safely complete their mission. While SpaceX have tested the destruction of a pressure tank on the ground, successfully proving the hardware and software combined on a real flight was a big win. No doubt the FAA will wholly appreciate this demonstration of a system that has never been tested before – at least in a practical application.
Legal Perspective
Currently SpaceX are facing a court challenge by a group of conservationists who wish to halt Starship flights. Where they found the finance to mount such a serious, complex and expensive court action is murky to say the least... However, the wheels of justice grind slow, so much so they have now been completely overrun by events. The latest flight test proved launching this Herculean rocket is possible without serious disruption to the local environment. The new water deluge system installed at the launch pad performed admirably, there was no repeat of the “rock tornado” or wild fires from the first test flight. The case made by these conservationist has been seriously undermined following this minimally disruptive launch, suggesting the pending court case will soon exist only in court annals. Irony is SpaceX are a major contributor to conservation at Boca Chica, and essentially the more they launch the more wildlife are left alone to flourish in the surrounding conservation areas.
Hope for Humanity
AS Elon Musk so ably suggests this flight represents a fork in the road for humanity. Instead of being trapped on a world of increasingly contested resources, Starship offers a chance to visit a cosmos filled with untold resources and experiences. The ability to send 150-250 tonnes into deep space is game changing, heralding the future we have long been promised and now eager to embrace.
Succinctly: Future’s bright on Mars.
In Conclusion
Starship showed its stuff, proving we can reach space at unprecedented scale. It’s potential is unfathomable, we simply lack the experience to understand all its future applications. One thing we can be sure of is NASA’s Artemis program is back on track for moon landings this decade. From there the giant leaps only get bigger, thanks to the incomparable capabilities of Starship.
Yes, it was great progress.
What was really proven for the first time is that the near optimal MethLOX fueled Full-flow staged combustion R2 engines can work together as a set of 33 with TCV for several minutes. My guess this is the most energy dense machine in terms of energy per square meter that has ever existed. Even if the Starship Stainless Steel rocket body is later replaced by something like Carbon Composite, the dream set out by the Soviet N1 has been shown to be possible.
Also, the launch mount + water looked good, enabling less FWS hassles and lowering costs for other launch sites around the world in the future.
But this did not prove Starship as a general use space system as set out the SX goals, but it did not show any showstoppers yet. So time for more optimization and testing, and maybe in a couple years there will be flight worthy of Elon's premature pronouncement.