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SpaceX Starship Flight 2

On April 20, 2023, Space Exploration Technologies, Inc. (SpaceX) conducted Starship Super Heavy launch operations from its Boca Chica, Texas site under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launch license VOL 23-129. During lift-off, structural failure of the launch pad deck foundation occurred, sending debris and sand into the air. On ascent, the vehicle deviated from the expected trajectory, resulting in the Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) issuing a destruct command. After an unexpected delay following AFSS activation, Starship broke up, resulting in the loss of the launch vehicle.

The FAA conducted a final review of the mishap report, 2 SpaceX Starship Orbital Test Flight 1 Final Mishap Investigation Report, dated August 21, 20232. The final mishap investigation report cited a total of sixty-three (63) corrective actions for SpaceX to implement. These included actions to address redesigns of vehicle hardware to prevent leaks and fires, redesign of the launch pad to increase its robustness, incorporation of additional reviews in the design process, additional analysis and testing of safety critical. systems and components including the Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS), and the application of additional change control practices. Launch license VOL 23-129 for Starship authorized SpaceX to conduct one launch. SpaceX is required to apply for a modification to the VOL 23-129 license to allow for subsequent launches. When SpaceX applies for this modification, it will need to demonstrate compliance with 450.173(f) by evidencing the implementation of corrective actions adopted in response to its April 20, 2023 mishap.

The two-stage next-generation megarocket lifted off from the Starbase launch site near Boca Chica in Texas, soaring roughly 55 miles (90 km) above ground on a planned 90-minute flight into space. But the Super Heavy first stage booster, though it appeared to achieve a crucial maneuver to separate with its core stage, exploded over the Gulf of Mexico shortly after detaching. And the Starship orbiter travelled further toward space, but roughly 10 minutes into the flight a company said that SpaceX mission control suddenly lost contact with the vehicle. "We have lost the data from the second stage... we think we may have lost the second stage," SpaceX's livestream host John Insprucker said, detonating before it reached its target altitude in what SpaceX called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

FAA said the SpaceX Starship mishap occurred during launch from Texas and an anomaly resulted in loss of the vehicle. The FAA added there was no report of injuries or public property damage and it'll conduct an investigation. This time, SpaceX’s new “hot-staging” technique worked, but a number of TPS tiles efinitely popped off.

The test flight principal objective was to get Starship off the ground and into space just shy of Earth's obit. Doing so would have marked a key step toward achieving SpaceX's ambition producing a large, multi-purpose, spacecraft capable of sending people and cargo back to the moon later this decade for NASA, and ultimately to Mars. Musk – SpaceX's founder, chief executive and chief engineer – also sees Starship as eventually replacing the company's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket as the centerpiece of its launch business that already lofts most of the world's satellites and other commercial payloads into space.

NASA, SpaceX's primary customer, has a considerable stake in the success of Starship, which the U.S. space agency is counting on to play a central role in its human spaceflight program, Artemis, successor to the Apollo missions of more than a half century ago that put astronauts on the moon for the first time. The mission's objective was to get Starship off the ground in Texas and into space just shy of reaching orbit, then plunge through Earth's atmosphere for a splashdown off Hawaii's coast. The mission codenamed Artemis III aims to land astronauts on the moon in late 2025 or early 2026.

"Honestly, it's such an incredibly successful day even though we did have a rapid unscheduled disassembly of both the Super Heavy booster and the Ship," said SpaceX quality engineering manager Kate Tice, as reported by Space.com on Saturday. "That's great. We got so much data, and that will all help us to improve for our next flight."

Huang Zhicheng, a renowned Chinese aerospace engineer and aerodynamics expert, told the Global Times believes that Elon Musk and SpaceX may have underestimated the challenges of developing the Starship, leading to escalating costs. "The design of the Starship in many aspects is still not mature. These challenges could significantly impact the US' plans for returning to the moon in its Artemis project and weigh on further space explorations," Huang noted.

All 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy Booster started up successfully and, for the first time, completed a full-duration burn during ascent. Starship then executed a successful hot-stage separation, the first time this technique has been done successfully with a vehicle of this size.

Following stage separation, Super Heavy initiated its boostback burn, which sends commands to 13 of the vehicle’s 33 Raptor engines to propel the rocket toward its intended landing location. During this burn, several engines began shutting down before one engine failed energetically, quickly cascading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD) of the booster. The vehicle breakup occurred more than three and a half minutes into the flight at an altitude of ~90 km over the Gulf of Mexico.

The most likely root cause for the booster RUD was determined to be filter blockage where liquid oxygen is supplied to the engines, leading to a loss of inlet pressure in engine oxidizer turbopumps that eventually resulted in one engine failing in a way that resulted in loss of the vehicle. SpaceX has since implemented hardware changes inside future booster oxidizer tanks to improve propellant filtration capabilities and refined operations to increase reliability.

At vehicle separation, Starship’s upper stage successfully lit all six Raptor engines and flew a normal ascent until approximately seven minutes into the flight, when a planned vent of excess liquid oxygen propellant began. Additional propellant had been loaded on the spacecraft before launch in order to gather data representative of future payload deploy missions and needed to be disposed of prior to reentry to meet required propellant mass targets at splashdown.

A leak in the aft section of the spacecraft that developed when the liquid oxygen vent was initiated resulted in a combustion event and subsequent fires that led to a loss of communication between the spacecraft’s flight computers. This resulted in a commanded shut down of all six engines prior to completion of the ascent burn, followed by the Autonomous Flight Safety System detecting a mission rule violation and activating the flight termination system, leading to vehicle breakup. The flight test’s conclusion came when the spacecraft was as at an altitude of ~150 km and a velocity of ~24,000 km/h, becoming the first Starship to reach outer space.

SpaceX has implemented hardware changes on upcoming Starship vehicles to improve leak reduction, fire protection, and refined operations associated with the propellant vent to increase reliability. The previously planned move from a hydraulic steering system for the vehicle’s Raptor engines to an entirely electric system also removes potential sources of flammability.

The water-cooled flame deflector and other pad upgrades made after Starship’s first flight test performed as expected, requiring minimal post-launch work to be ready for vehicle tests and the next integrated flight test.

Following the flight test, SpaceX led the investigation efforts with oversight from the FAA and participation from NASA, and the National Transportation Safety Board. Upgrades derived from the flight test will debut on the next Starship and Super Heavy vehicles to launch from Starbase on Flight 3. SpaceX is also implementing planned performance upgrades, including the debut of a new electronic Thrust Vector Control system for Starship’s upper stage Raptor engines and improving the speed of propellant loading operations prior to launch.