SpaceX successfully deployed the first third-generation Starlink satellites on Friday using an upgraded version of its Starship prototype, the 13th test flight of its megarocket to date. But the company suffered another failure with its Super Heavy booster during a planned simulated landing in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the second time the company
SpaceX successfully deployed the first third-generation Starlink satellites on Friday using an upgraded version of its Starship prototype, the 13th test flight of its megarocket to date. But the company suffered another failure with its Super Heavy booster during a planned simulated landing in the Gulf of Mexico.
This is the second time the company has had a problem with the Super Heavy booster in this V3 version of Starship. In May, on the first flight of Starship V3, SpaceX encountered a failure in the Starship’s Super Heavy booster when it separated from the rocket’s upper stage.
The launch came just over a week after SpaceX attempted the 13th Starship launch. This attempt had to be aborted immediately after ignition due to a series of failures in the rocket motors. SpaceX said it replaced six engines before Friday’s flight to fix the problem.
During Friday’s launch, the booster advanced on its planned flight, but was unable to properly ignite all of the engines needed for its simulated landing. The booster exploded after impact with water faster than expected.
This was the first Starship launch since SpaceX went public in June in the largest initial public offering in history. In a test of SpaceX’s “fly, fail, fix” approach to Starship development, the company saw its stock fall last week the day after the launch abort. The drop is part of a broader downward trend since the IPO that has seen the company’s stock fall from a high of more than $200 per share to $115 at the close of trading on Friday. In after-hours trading, SpaceX shares fell another 2% following the booster failure, before offsetting some of those losses.
SpaceX appears to have had better luck with the Starship V3 upper stage during Friday’s launch. The upper stage lost a rocket motor during the first V3 launch in May. That didn’t happen this time, as Starship encountered no problems in its path to deploying the new Starlinks.
The new Starlink satellites are expected to burn up in the atmosphere about 20 minutes after deployment, as Starship is not yet capable of reaching Earth orbit.
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