Liftoff! SpaceX has launched the next-generation Starship V3, currently undergoing its first test flight.
One of the 33 engines on the first stage failed, but liftoff continued.
Just reported live by US SpaceNews.
Due to issues during initial ignition, only five of the vehicle's six engines operated normally.
Despite the engine issue, Horst confirmed today that the ship's engines should be able to ignite to assist in a controlled landing.
Starship Flight 12: Stage Separation! The Super Heavy booster has successfully separated from the upper stage Ship 39.
The booster did not perform a return burn, but recovery was not planned for this flight.
SpaceX's Starship V3 upper stage spacecraft (Ship 39) has successfully reached space, despite one of its six engines failing.
It compensated for the loss by extending the burn time of the remaining five engines.
Starship V3 is now deploying its 22 simulated Starlink satellites. Its flight speed is significantly faster than previous Starship flights—an improvement introduced with the V3 upgrade.
As satellites are released, cheers erupted at SpaceX headquarters, with people shouting “USA!”
Starship has already deployed 10 of the 22 satellites. Two of them feature longer booms and carry cameras as an experiment to capture images of the Starship heat shield.
SpaceX refers to them as "Dodger Dogs," named after the famous hot dogs sold at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
The payload bay of Starship has a narrow slit resembling a PEZ candy dispenser, ejecting flat Starlink satellites one by one.
Now, SpaceX reports that Starship V3 has passed through the highest heating phase during atmospheric reentry, approaching the splashdown zone in the Indian Ocean. The vehicle used only its flaps during the 7-Mach load test.
Landing burn will occur in a few minutes— it will perform a banking maneuver and attempt to land using its two functional engines.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1865934229899268/
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