Today’s test flight marked the end of a short but stunning redemption arc for this version of Starship — dubbed Version 2 or V2.
“Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy,” a recap of Monday’s mission on SpaceX’s website reads.
After thrice exploding mid-flight earlier this year, Starship soared through its key goals today — including deploying mock satellites and relighting its engine while in space, repeating feats first achieved during V2’s first fully successful test run in August.
But V2’s comeback is far from the full story. SpaceX has a long way to go before the vehicle is ready to fly real satellites — much less land NASA astronauts on the moon.
Before Starship can get there, the company needs to carry out similarly successful but perhaps more challenging test flights of Starship Version 3, a scaled-up version of the vehicle.
“The focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy, with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests,” SpaceX’s website statement reads. “This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”
Propellant transfer is a key piece of the puzzle for SpaceX. Because of its enormous size and design, Starship must be topped off with fuel as it sits in Earth orbit in order to reach the moon.
But such a feat has never been done before.