Watch How SpaceX Test Launches The Starship and Super Heavy Rocket

Space.com

Watch how SpaceX's fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket launches during a test flight but failed to separate and ended with Rapid Unplanned Disassembly (RUD) a few minutes into flight.  Credit: SpaceX

Transcript

00:00We can't lose again.

00:20T-minus 15 seconds.

00:2210, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3...

00:52No response on operations.

01:02Booster after chamber pressure is nominal.

01:09T-plus 43 seconds into the test flight of the inaugural Starship vehicle.

01:14Tower cleared to land a pitch over.

01:16Propulsion reports first stage engines nominal.

01:20What a sight when the ground cameras at Starbase.

01:23We're flying at twice the thrust of a Saturn V heading to space.

01:35We're throttled down and throttled back up.

01:40Going through the period of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

01:50As the velocity increases, the density of the atmosphere is decreasing,

01:54lessening stress on the vehicle.

01:56The call-out, Max Q now.

02:06Continuing to watch the first stage as we head downrange.

02:16100 seconds into flight.

02:20Our next major activity is going to be shutdown of the first stage.

02:25Houston tracking station now acquiring the vehicle.

02:29With shutdown, we will get separation of Starship from Super Heavy

02:33and ignition of the Starship engines.

02:36When Starship separates, we light up six engines in a staggered sequence.

02:41If all goes well, those six engines will burn for almost six and a half minutes.

02:46Onboard view from Starship.

02:50And there's views of the Raptor engines on the second stage

02:54as we prepare for stage separation.

02:57Now after stage separation, the first stage will flip

03:00and begin a boost-back maneuver for landing in the Gulf.

03:14Continuing to fly.

03:16Continuing to fly. Two minutes, 40 seconds.

03:18Let's get ready for main engine cutoff.

03:25Beginning to flip for stage separation.

03:46As of right now, we are awaiting stage separation.

04:04Where Starship should separate from the Super Heavy booster.

04:12Right now, it looks like we saw the start of the flip,

04:15but obviously we're seeing from the ground cameras

04:17the entire Starship stack continuing to rotate.

04:20We should have had separation by now.

04:22Obviously, this does not appear to be a nominal situation.

04:27Yeah, it does appear to be spinning,

04:29but I do want to remind everyone that

04:31everything after clearing the tower was icing on the cake.

04:36And there, as you saw, as we promised,

04:47an exciting end to the Starship inaugural integrated test flight.

05:06Everyone here absolutely pumped to clear the pad

05:10and make it this far into the test flight,

05:12the first integrated flight of the booster and the Starship vehicle.

05:18Live view there of our control center at Starbase,

05:22which we refer to as Star Command.

05:27As we said before, obviously we wanted to make it all the way through,

05:32but to get this far, honestly, is amazing.

05:37Well, if you're just joining us,

05:39Starship just experienced what we call

05:41a rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent.

05:46But now this was a development test.

05:48This is the first test flight of Starship,

05:50and the goal was to gather the data,

05:52and as we said, clear the pad and get ready to go again.

05:56So you never know exactly what's going to happen,

05:58but as we promised, excitement is guaranteed.

06:01And Starship gave us a rather spectacular end

06:04to what was truly an incredible test thus far.

06:07As we mentioned at the start of today's program,

06:10any and all the data that we collected during the test

06:13is going to help us with further development of Starship,

06:16and it's going to improve the vehicle's reliability

06:18as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary.

06:21It's really worth noting that the flight path

06:23was designed to be over water and all the air and sea space,

06:27along with that flight path and those surrounding areas

06:30were cleared in advance of the test,

06:32and of course we're going to be coordinating

06:34with local authorities for the recovery operations.

06:37But honestly, what an exciting morning.

06:40Oh my gosh.

06:41We had a successful liftoff from Starbase, Texas

06:45at 8.28 a.m. Central Time.

06:48We cleared the tower, which honestly was our only hope.

06:53We cleared the tower, and all the data that we collected

06:56all the way through all those Raptor, those 33,

06:59although I think we saw that three Raptor engines were out,

07:02but we got all that data.

07:04We got so far as to hoping to see the Starship,

07:09the second stage, separate from the first stage,

07:12the super heavy booster, and unfortunately,

07:14we didn't make that happen, but that's okay.

07:16It was the first integrated launch,

07:19and honestly, today was amazing.

07:22Absolutely incredible day.

07:24We made it through a number of those initial test objectives

07:28with getting booster ascent,

07:30getting all the way through the countdown,

07:32working some issues at the end, like really fantastic day.

07:34Got through the gate at T-minus 40 seconds on the second try.

07:38Everything released, the holddowns, quick disconnect arms,

07:41everything moves out of the way,

07:43and then we got the vehicle off of the pad,

07:45through max Q, all the way up to stage separation,

07:48even starting into the prep for stage step,

07:50and then as we say, a lot of excitement.

07:53Honestly, my face has had a smile on it since liftoff,

07:57but now my face hurts.

07:59Now, since we don't have any insights on the cause

08:02of our rapid, unscheduled disassembly at this point,

08:05we're going to end our webcast here.

08:07Teams will continue to review the data

08:09and work toward our next flight test,

08:11but before we go, a big congrats to the entire SpaceX team

08:15on an exciting first integrated flight test of Starship,

08:18and of course, a shout out to our viewers.

08:20We appreciate you joining us, and as always,

08:23we thank you for your interest in Starship, SpaceX,

08:26and your ongoing support.

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