SpaceX has as soon as once more launched probably the most highly effective rocket in historical past into the sky, and this time, the mission appears to have handed most of its key milestones. Starship took off with no hitch this morning, separated from its booster, and cruised by house for some time earlier than SpaceX misplaced contact with it. As a substitute of splashing down within the ocean as deliberate, Starship appears to have been destroyed throughout reentry in Earth’s ambiance.

The flight was the third strive in an formidable testing marketing campaign that started lower than a yr in the past. The opposite makes an attempt began with lovely liftoffs, however they stopped quick of finishing check goals and led to explosions. For immediately’s check, SpaceX modified up its designs and utilized them to freshly made Starship prototypes, that are manufactured at a tempo that, in contrast with the remainder of rocket historical past, evokes sweets coming down the conveyor belt towards Lucille Ball. Throughout immediately’s check, the spacecraft even managed to conduct an important check, transferring rocket propellant from one tank into one other whereas touring at 1000’s of miles above Earth’s floor.

All eyes within the spaceflight neighborhood are on Starship proper now, as a result of the large rocket-and-spaceship system has an vital job to do in simply a few years: land American astronauts on the moon on NASA’s behalf, bringing people again to the lunar floor for the primary time since 1972. The partnership will contain maneuvers that NASA by no means tried throughout the Apollo program: The house company will launch its astronauts off the bottom and take them in a capsule towards the moon, however as soon as they arrive in lunar orbit, a Starship will greet them and transport them all the way down to the floor. And for that Starship to achieve lunar orbit, SpaceX should launch a bunch of different Starships to refuel the spaceship for the journey—therefore the significance of the gasoline switch. In different phrases, SpaceX is attempting to create a fuel station in house, circling Earth on the identical dizzying speeds as house stations and satellites.

This floating infrastructure is in contrast to something people have tried to do in house, and it’ll elevate our spacefaring capability far past something that was beforehand doable. The flexibility to refuel ships in house would crack open the photo voltaic system for us, making it simpler for astronauts to achieve not solely the moon but in addition Mars and even planets deeper into the photo voltaic system. It could imply that spacecraft might make the most of payload capability that will have been reserved for big quantities of propellant. This decade may even see a number of triumphant lunar landings, however the fuel stations will cement our standing as a complicated spacefaring species.

The small print of the gas-station plan are nonetheless ideas on paper, however the formidable thought goes like this: SpaceX will launch quite a few Starships loaded with propellant, a mix of liquid methane and liquid oxygen, into orbit round Earth. These “tankers,” as the corporate calls them, will deposit gasoline into a bigger depot, additionally launched by SpaceX. By the point the Starship carrying NASA’s astronauts reaches orbit, it can have used up most of its gasoline. The ship will dock with the fuel depot, gasoline up, and head off towards the moon.

This future relies on nailing a single, fundamental gasoline switch, as SpaceX appears to have accomplished immediately; engineers should evaluate information to see how properly they did. The method may be easy on Earth, however outer house is an atmosphere good for ruining rocket gasoline. Liquid methane and oxygen have to be saved at cryogenic temperatures, however temperatures in house can swing between excessive chilly and warmth. If the gasoline will get too heat, it’d evaporate right into a fuel and float off.

SpaceX should additionally launch many extra Starships with out incident earlier than a moon touchdown can transfer ahead. The corporate’s contract with NASA requires deploying a number of tankers in fast succession to help astronauts heading to the floor. Elon Musk posted on X this week that he hopes to launch Starship at the very least six instances in 2024. Extra launch makes an attempt would offer NASA with a a lot clearer sense of its timeline for the primary moon touchdown of the Artemis program, named for Apollo’s sister in Greek mythology. The mission has already been delayed: In January, the company pushed it from late 2025 to late 2026. Officers stated that the schedule change “acknowledges the very actual improvement challenges which have been skilled by our business companions,” which embrace SpaceX in addition to Lockheed Martin, the aerospace contractor chargeable for the capsule that can carry astronauts to lunar orbit.

Greater than half a century since people set foot on the moon, Earth is sprinkled with launchpads, formidable indicators of our space-explorer standing. We’re in the busiest decade of moon exploration because the Nineteen Sixties, with authorities companies and personal corporations alike deploying robotic missions to the lunar floor. Native house followers check with the state freeway that results in SpaceX’s base in South Texas, the place the most recent Starship prototype launched from immediately, because the “freeway to Mars.” A Twenty first-century moon touchdown shall be a major achievement, and a touchdown on Mars would mark a completely new period of humanity’s presence in house. However it’ll be the fuel stations serving to take astronauts there that can really model us as an off-world species.