(Boca Chica) The Starship spacecraft, intended for trips to the Moon and Mars, successfully landed in the Indian Ocean for the first time on Thursday, SpaceX said after a test flight that lasted about an hour.  

“Ditching confirmed! »wrote billionaire Elon Musk’s company on the social network

During its last flight, less than three months ago, the spacecraft was well beyond the edge of space, but its signal was lost 49 minutes after liftoff as it descended toward Earth.  

“Congratulations and a huge thank you to the extraordinary teams at SpaceX,” Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s number 2, wrote on X.

Liftoff for this fourth Starship test flight took place at 7:50 a.m. from SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, in far south Texas (8:50 a.m. Eastern Time).

One of the main objectives of the flight was to achieve a more controlled return to the Earth’s atmosphere than during the three previous tests, which ended with explosions.

The development of Starship is being carried out vigorously by the company of billionaire Elon Musk by quickly launching prototypes without cargo, in order to correct the problems encountered in flight as soon as possible.

The Starship spacecraft must ultimately be used to transport NASA astronauts to the Moon, for the first time since 1972. The American space agency is therefore closely following its development.

“Congratulations to SpaceX on a successful Starship test flight,” NASA CEO Bill Nelson said Thursday. “We are one step closer to returning humanity to the Moon.”

The rocket is made up of two stages: the Super Heavy booster stage and, above it, the Starship, which by extension gives its name to the entire rocket. This, the largest and most powerful in the world, measures a total of 120 meters high.

A few minutes after takeoff, Super Heavy detached from the ship and began its return to Earth. For the first time, it then successfully landed in the Gulf of Mexico, SpaceX announced.  

The ship continued its journey until reaching space. After about an hour, it in turn re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, at around 25,000 km/h. This speed causes friction that can raise the temperature to around 1,400°C, according to SpaceX.

Images broadcast live by cameras attached to the ship showed a layer of plasma formed around it. “You can see parts of the vehicle flying off,” said one of the SpaceX commentators, shortly before the landing.  

During its last flight less than three months ago, the spacecraft also went well beyond the edge of space, but its signal was lost 49 minutes after takeoff, as it descended back to Earth.

The cause was identified as loss of control of its orientation in flight due to clogged valves, SpaceX explained. Several vehicle “upgrades” have been added since then.  

The first test flight was carried out in April 2023.

During the third test flight, a fuel transfer test was carried out: liquid oxygen was transferred from one tank to another within the rocket, according to SpaceX.

Developing this function is essential, because to reach the Moon, Starship will have to refuel once in space, by sticking to another vessel previously filled and serving as a space gas station.  

NASA is counting on Starship in particular for its Artemis 3 mission, planned for 2026: a modified version of the vehicle must then serve as a lunar lander for its astronauts.  

In addition to its disproportionate size, the great innovation of this rocket is that it must ultimately be entirely reusable.

Elon Musk wants to make it the main instrument to achieve his ultimate goal: the establishment of an autonomous colony on Mars, in order to make humanity a multi-planetary species.

In the meantime, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa was to board a trip around the Moon (without landing) a mission announced with great fanfare in 2018 and called “DearMoon”.

But last week, Mr Maezawa said the plan was off: “There is no clear outlook for when we can take off,” he wrote.