The new space race

Stock photo of Musk. Chris Carlson/AP  

The new space race 

"Helps us improve Starship's reliability"  

The world's largest and most powerful spacecraft to date took off for the first time from the Earth's surface on Thursday, but exploded after just four minutes. 

"Today's test will help us improve Starship's reliability," writes the space company Space X in a comment on the unmanned test flight.  

Founder Elon Musk announces that another launch will be made within a couple of months. Nasa chief Bill Nelson congratulates the company on Twitter.  

"With the great risks comes the great reward," he writes. 

 

Illustration of Starship on the Moon. AP  

The new space race  

Starship will be able to transport 250 tons of cargo into space  

The Space X spacecraft "Starship" and the launch vehicle "Super Heavy", which lifted off together for the first time on Thursday, play a crucial role in future space travel.  

In two years, the plan is for the rocket to take a manned expedition, Artemis III, to the moon. In the longer term, there are plans for permanent bases on the moon and trips to Mars.  

What is distinctive about the Starship system from Space X is partly the traction and partly the relatively low cost.  

According to Bloomberg, Starship should be able to lift cargo of up to 250 tons into orbit around the Earth. At the same time, a launch with Super Heavy costs a tenth of what it costs to take off with Nasa's "Space Launch System", writes TT.