NASA’s Houston base offers one of the many iconic aspects of Texas’ identity, but in recent years the government’s aerospace agency has taken a step back and encouraged private companies to further fuel space exploration. One of the winners of this new approach from NASA was SpaceX. So far, the company, led by technology billionaire Elon Musk, has received more than $2 billion from the government to test new technologies.
While NASA has scaled back operations, Texas still takes center stage as Boca Chica, Texas has served as the test headquarters for four Space X launches. The last took place on June 6 and was a resounding success. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest launch.
How did the last Starship launch go?
By all accounts, this launch was a resounding success for Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its flagship development Starship. Starship is intended for repeated space exploration, and even cargo or passenger launches. Starship is known for its powerful launch system and when perfected, it will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration interplanetary flights.
Starship has successfully launched, a step that the company has taken well in the past. From there, the spacecraft made a full test mission around the planet before returning for landing. In previous launches, the landing has plagued SpaceX’s operations and was a source of stress leading up to this launch.
This time, the spacecraft successfully landed in the Indian Ocean, marking a major milestone for Musk and SpaceX. According to the company, damage to the vessel was sustained via black tiles that came loose when the ship re-entered the atmosphere – but this was expected.
“Despite the loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship has achieved a soft landing in the ocean!” Musk said this in a post on social media.
Previous SpaceX launches were not as successful
The first SpaceX launch of its Starship was in April 2023. The celebration didn’t last long, however, as the spacecraft encountered problems just 24 miles above the Gulf of Mexico when leaking propellant caused a fire in the Super Heavy booster, according to the company.
This failure resulted in SpaceX losing communication with the spacecraft and later the craft itself lost control. After the ship lost control, the Autonomous Flight Safety System took over and detonated the craft in less than four minutes.
In November, the spaceship flew again and reached space for the first time, according to the SpaceX website. However, during the flight it experienced problems with the liquid oxygen supply. One engine failed and the vehicle caught fire.
According to the SpaceX website, the failure was “determined to be a filter blockage involving liquid oxygen being supplied to the engines, which led to a loss of intake pressure in the engine’s oxidation pumps, ultimately resulting in the failure of one engine in a manner that resulted in the loss of the vehicle.”
SpaceX at the center of several controversies
On Wednesday, SpaceX and its CEO Musk were sued by eight engineers who say they were illegally fired for raising concerns about alleged sexual harassment and discrimination against women.
A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles alleges that Musk’s behavior cultivated a “pervasive sexist culture” at SpaceX, where female engineers were often subjected to sexist comments and harassment. The lawsuit also alleges that women’s concerns about workplace culture were ignored when they were raised.
This isn’t the only claim SpaceX is facing. In December 2023, a handful of environmental groups filed an additional complaint about the environmental impacts of SpaceX Starship launches from Starbase, the company’s facility in far south Texas, with the Federal Aviation Administration. The groups filed suit against the FAA shortly after the first Starship launch last April, SpaceNews reported.
USA TODAY’s Brandi D. Addison contributed to this report
Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in Austin’s business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights Salgado, email Bsalgado@gannett.com.