We are finally there: Starship takes off and bitter as expected!

The engineers of SpaceX, Elon Musk and NASA must certainly smile; They can finally after many successive failures. The flight of the stars of this night was a very good success and we can say that in broad outline, the whole flight plan has been respected and the various tests proved to be conclusive.

We are therefore far from uncontrolled explosions in recent months. This time, after a postponement due to the weather, the starship took off this night (August 27, 2025). Admittedly, the Super Heavy booster was not caught by the huge tower Mechazilla, but simply bitter, as provided by the flight plan. Nothing abnormal here.

Recall that the big problems of the stars were mechanical, in the upper vessel, the ship as it is sometimes called, the one who must transport passengers, especially on the moon for the Artemis program.

First unprecedented success: the deployment of starlink satellite models

Following the return to the Terre du Super Heavy about 6 min 40 s after takeoff, the highly anticipated moment was the behavior of the ship in its V2 version and the ejection of the payload, namely simulacres of Starlink satellites. The success was to the chef and the employees of SpaceX have applauded everything, because commercially, it will be a nice plus for the space society – in terms of the overload of the orbit, this is another story …

One of the engines of the Super Heavy was not rekindled for the descent, having previously been decided to use one of the two of the outside crown, then to finish with only two raptor engines. This damage simulation, provided for in the flight plan, therefore gave results there also satisfactory. It is undoubtedly because of this delicate maneuver that the catch -up by Mechazilla was not tempted.

The most important then was undoubtedly the behavior of flaps (the fins) and thermal shield. And there, it must be admitted that the differences with the previous launches have been striking. Flaps were not half disintegrated from the start of the atmospheric school year, like most of the time. Finally, this version of the ship seems to be able to return to earth. To put people in it, you will of course have to wait a bit.

There was still a little surprise: something exploded in the engine bay at an altitude of 90 km and 45 min after takeoff. Nevertheless, nothing apparently dramatic which has prevented the ship from going to find the area of ​​the Indian Ocean which had been chosen to him. According to Spatial techniques who held the live (His excellent YouTube channel, it’s here), it could be a pipe that has been accidentally blocked by solid oxygen. We may know it later after analysis of the data by SpaceX.

History will remember that the Ship has come to the vertical above the Indian Ocean 1 h 6 min after taking off, for a test mission which marks an extraordinary improvement compared to the latest shots. NASA, which needs the starship so much to return to the moon with Artemis III, must resume a little hope.

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