How SpaceX Flew Starship to Space for First Time: 17 Crucial Upgrades

• SpaceX’s third test launch of its Starship mega-rocket went off without a hitch.
• The success comes after two previous test flights blew up last year.
• SpaceX has made a series of upgrades to the rocket system that helped it finally reach space.

The saying goes, “The third time’s a charm” and for SpaceX, it certainly was.

SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket successfully blasted off to space for the first time early Thursday morning after two previous attempts ended in spectacular explosions last year.

Both previous explosions were critical to helping SpaceX hone the technology that led to Thursday’s success.

“Many of the innovations that we’ve developed have come from our failures, and they teach us how to avoid the perils of spaceflight,” Siva Bharadvaj, space operations engineer at SpaceX, said during the launch live stream on Thursday.

After the second explosion in November, the Federal Aviation Administration tasked SpaceX with 17 corrective actions.

They included hardware redesigns, engine analyses, and robustness updates to both its first-stage Super Heavy booster and upper-stage Starship rocket.

“It’s a tough business, but all of this testing, all of the iterative design, allows us to make the design better and better,” he said.  

Over a dozen SpaceX rocket upgrades

About seven minutes into November’s test launch, Starship initiated a pre-planned dump of excess liquid oxygen, triggering a fire that ultimately caused the ship to self-detonate, according to SpaceNews.

Therefore, avoiding a similar fire was top of mind in preparation for Thursday’s launch. SpaceX made several adjustments to make it happen.

First, SpaceX eliminated the need for a liquid oxygen dump before engine cutoff.

Additionally, the company stated that Starship caught fire due to a leak that occurred at the same time as the liquid oxygen dump. So, SpaceX made some hardware changes to reduce the risk of leaks, per SpaceNews.

SpaceX also equipped its newest Starship prototype with additional fire protection and performed flammability analysis updates to reduce fire risk, according to an FAA statement.

All the effort paid off since there was no fire during Thursday’s launch. But that was just some of the changes. SpaceX also made several upgrades to improve engine and flight control.

For example, SpaceX updated Super Heavy’s engine control algorithms and added new, large slosh baffles to its liquid oxygen tank to reduce propellant from sloshing around too much during the booster’s challenging flip maneuver, per SpaceNews.

As for Starship, SpaceX added three new angled liquid oxygen vents to the underside of the engine skirt that likely helped with attitude control.

Additionally, cowbell diverters the two large header tank vents on the spaceship’s nose cone to direct the flow of vented vapors downward, also aided attitude control.

Strengthened data connection

After Starship blasted off, it sent stunning views of space back to Earth, maintaining a strong data connection to mission control for the majority of its space flight.

Starship even captured stunning video footage of the spacecraft’s re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere.

That’s all thanks to upgrades to the rocket’s Starlink terminals and the addition of new Starlink satellite dishes.

More improvements to come

Though we don’t know when the next Starship mission will launch, the new iteration of this mega-rocket will likely come with even more upgrades.

While this was the most successful Starship test launch to date, it didn’t achieve all mission objectives. After separating from Starship, the Super Heavy booster lost control and began to tumble toward Earth. Ultimately, this led to a hard splashdown, instead of a gentle, splashdown like SpaceX had planned, per NASA Spaceflight.

Moreover, Starship was lost during re-entry meaning SpaceX will have to perform a mishap investigation like its previous, November flight to determine what went wrong, per NASA Spaceflight.

Despite these mishaps, Starship’s third test flight was a resounding success. SpaceX is used to unexpected fires, tumbles, and explosions — and it’s not afraid of them either.

“If you’re not failing, you’re not learning and improving the design,” SpaceX Quality Systems Engineer, Kate Tice, said during Thursday’s live stream of the launch.

SpaceX officials said the company plans to complete at least six more Starship test flights this year, subject to regulatory approval, Reuters reported.