Launch

Starship: Progress For the Second Test Flight

Published on 18 November 2023

On November 18, the second test flight saw apparently normal operation of the 33 thrusters of the Super Heavy first stage, destroyed after separation. The second stage exceeded 140 km altitude before losing contact.

Starship, the most powerful launcher in history launched for its second test flight on November 18 from the SpaceX facilities in Boca Chica, Texas. While all the objectives hoped for were not achieved, progress compared to the previous April flight was notable.

Remember that this extraordinary machine, 121 m high and more than 5,000 tonnes at take-off is to become the next rocket from Elon Musk’s firm and a special version will serve as the lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis programme.

From take-off to separation

Try, Break, Progress

Starship and the Moon

FROM TAKE-OFF TO SEPARATION

At 7:03 a.m. local Texas time, the Super Heavy first stage’s 33 methane and liquid-oxygen fuelled Raptor thrusters quickly ignited in sequence. The gigantic launcher lifted off without apparently causing the damage observed during the first flight to its launch pad. The modifications made by SpaceX to its Boca Chica installations (deflector under the launch pad, water deluge system) therefore seem to have borne fruit, barring any surprises.
Above all, the ascent of the Starship powered by the Super Heavy was much “cleaner.” No shutdown of the thrusters or elements ejected from the engine bay were observed. Likewise the speeds and altitudes conformed to the flight plan, at least until separation.

Take-off of the Starship for its second test flight on November 18, 2023 from Boca Chica, Texas.
© SpaceX

The spectacular separation of the two stages, Super Heavy and Starship, in mode hot staging at 71 km altitude and 5620 km/h.

Bottom images: The first Super Heavy stage exploded about thirty seconds after separation, but the Starship continued its ascent.

The separation involved hot staging which consists of igniting the thrusters of the second stage before its effective physical separation from the first. This is a fairly major modification of the design of the SpaceX launcher and its first test proved conclusive (after 2 minutes and 45 seconds of flight at an altitude of 71 km and at 5,620 km /h as expected).

On the other hand, the first Super Heavy stage only survived 35 seconds at this very dynamic stage, exploding after having started its boostback procedure, a powered phase by which it returns to the firing point. This time, however, the teams were not aiming for such a return, but a landing in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas. Analysis of the data will reveal whether or not the loss of the Super Heavy comes from the activation of the self-destruct system (designed to prevent the stage from following an incorrect trajectory which would threaten populations).

TRY, BREAK, PROGRESS

Despite the explosion of Super Heavy, the second stage, the Starship itself, continued its ascent towards space, passing the 100 km boundary after 3 minutes and 30 seconds of flight. The live indications, based on telemetry, show that the Starship reached 149 km and 24,124 km/h after 8 minutes. The stopping of the engines then seems to have occurred a little less than 30 seconds ahead of the timeline communicated before November 18. The live broadcast first showed radio contact was expected before announcing the loss of data from the second stage and advancing the possibility of activation of the self-destruct system.
Even though the objectives were not all been achieved, this IFT2 (Integrated Flight Test No. 2) of the Starship showed notable progress: improvements to the launch pad, full functioning of the Raptors, separation and altitude of more than 140 km for the second stage. Here we find the philosophy of the American company which we could summarise as try, break and progress … as long as we are in the development phase of course! The path to an operational Starship will obviously require further testing and modification.

A beautiful image of the Starship ascending, before separation. The Super Heavy first stage is white due to condensation caused by cold propellants (methane and liquid oxygen). Above, the Starship’s thermal protection explains its dark livery.
© SpaceX

Top: screenshot of the SpaceX live stream with, in the background, hands in front of his face, Elon Musk who has noticed that the telemetry of the Starship second stage is not being fed back.

Bottom: two congratulatory tweets from the teams by NASA boss Bill Nelson and astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
© Cité de l’espace after SpaceX / X

STARSHIP AND THE MOON

In addition to serving as a new launcher for the firm founded by Elon Musk, the Starship was selected in a special version to serve as a lunar lander (Orion with the astronauts will dock with it in orbit around the Moon). NASA boss Bill Nelson congratulated the teams who carried out this IFT2 with a tweet. However, other officials at the US agency have previously stressed that the Starship may not be ready for Artemis III in 2025, the year chosen for the return of humans to the Moon. Delays to such complex programmes are of course nothing new. Besides ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet tweeted: “It’s impossible not to be enthusiastic even if everything is not perfect of course.”

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