By: Dianté Marigny
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com
After a two-day delay, SpaceX’s massive Super Heavy-Starship rocket roared to life Tuesday evening, launching from the company’s Starbase facility, drawing spectators along the Island’s shoreline.
The flight marked the 10th test for the Starship program and came after three previous attempts earlier this year ended in failure. This time, despite some heat damage to a protective section near the engine bay and partial melting on a control flap during re-entry, SpaceX reported the upper stage remained on course and completed a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean as planned.
“Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting tenth flight test of Starship!” the company announced on X following the mission.
The Super Heavy booster also performed its role as designed, propelling the Starship vehicle out of the lower atmosphere before heading back toward the Texas Gulf Coast for a tail-first landing in the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX noted that one of the booster’s engines was intentionally shut down mid-descent as part of the test, but the system adjusted, and the booster still completed its landing successfully.
The launch lit up the sky at 6:30 p.m. as all 33 methane-powered Raptor engines on the Super Heavy fired at once, sending the nearly 400-foot rocket into the evening sky in a fiery, thunderous display visible from South Padre Island beaches and surrounding areas of the Valley.
SpaceX teams in Texas and California celebrated each stage of the one-hour mission, hailing it as a major step forward for the company’s plans to develop the world’s most powerful launch vehicle.
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