(Central News Agency, Poca Chica, Texas, comprehensive foreign news report on the 18th) The U.S. Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) test-fired the unmanned space vehicle “Starship” for the second time today. However, due to the super-heavy thruster exploding after reaching space, the spacecraft also The signal was lost, so the original mission was not completed.
CNN reported that although SpaceX did not complete its mission this time, there were still major highlights. Compared with the first failed test launch in April, the Starship flew farther this time, and the Starship did not successfully separate from the super-heavy thruster at that time.
This time, SpaceX reached a new milestone. About two and a half minutes into the flight, the starship started its engines and successfully separated from the thrusters through a new method called “hot staging.”
However, the super-heavy thruster began to roll out of control after breaking away from the starship, and soon exploded over the Gulf of Mexico, while the starship aircraft continued to fly.
About eight minutes after liftoff, cheers erupted throughout the mission control center. At this time, the starship’s engines are about to shut down, and the spacecraft is preparing to enter Earth orbit.
But nine minutes after launch, SpaceX made it clear that it had lost the image signal of the starship.
About 11 and a half minutes after liftoff, SpaceX confirmed that it had completely lost signal. This indicates that the “starship” did not fly as planned.
SpaceX live broadcast host John Insprucker later confirmed that SpaceX was forced to blow up the starship to prevent it from veering off course.
U.S. financial media CNBC reported that SpaceX’s online live broadcast showed that the starship seemed to explode at an altitude of about 148 kilometers from the earth’s surface.
SpaceX emphasized that since “thermal classification” is considered the most difficult part of the test launch operation, in their opinion, the test was a success.
After the Starship test launch, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also expressed congratulations to SpaceX. (Translator: Chen Yanjun/Verification: Shi Shi) 1121119
