New Delhi. SpaceX, the company of the world's richest businessman Elon Musk, has suffered a setback in its ambitious Starship rocket test. During the test conducted on Friday, the company could not succeed in safely recovering both the parts of the rocket. Due to a technical problem, no attempt was made to hold the Super Heavy Booster back and it fell into the ocean. The main objective of this mission was to demonstrate for the first time the reusability of Starship's booster and upper body by safely recovering it.
This was one of SpaceX's most ambitious Starship tests to date. Through this mission of about 22 hours, the company wanted to prove that in future both the parts of the rocket can be brought back safely and used again. However, this target of the company could not be achieved due to non-recovery of the booster.
Why is the success of Starship important?
SpaceX plans to make the entire Starship rocket reusable. The company believes that this will make the launching process of space missions faster, economical and easier. Besides, future missions related to Moon and Mars will also gain momentum.
If this test had been successful, it would have been a major achievement in recovering and reusing both the major parts of the rocket that reached space orbit. This technology is very important for Elon Musk. Their goal is to create a permanent base on the Moon and send humans to Mars. For this, it will be necessary to launch rockets repeatedly at short intervals.
There was no recovery even in the September test
Earlier, during the test conducted in September, Starship was successful in reaching the Earth's orbit for the first time. However, at that time the company did not attempt to recover any parts of the rocket. This time the target was set to recover both the parts, but due to technical problem the plan to bring back the Super Heavy Booster could not succeed.
Preparation to replace Falcon rocket with starship
SpaceX plans to begin launching Starships from Florida in the coming months. After this, there are preparations to launch it from Louisiana also in future. The company aims to make all parts of the rocket reusable while expanding the infrastructure associated with launching.
Currently, SpaceX's Falcon rockets are being used in many important space missions. Through these, astronauts are sent from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station (ISS). At the same time, other satellites including Starlink satellites from California are also launched with Falcon rockets. However, Musk's long-term plan is to use Starship instead.
NASA eyes human landing on the Moon
US space agency NASA has awarded billion-dollar contracts to SpaceX to develop Starship as a lunar lander under its Artemis program. Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin is also in competition in this project with its Blue Moon Lander.
NASA has to decide before the proposed human lunar landing under the Artemis program whether Elon Musk's Starship or Jeff Bezos' Blue Moon Lander will be used for the mission.
At the same time, during the proposed Artemis-3 mission in summer next year, astronauts will practice docking of their spacecraft with Starship and Blue Moon Lander in Earth's orbit. Its objective is to advance preparations for the return of humans to the Moon by 2028.