SpaceX’s Starship V3 test flight launched successfully but saw mixed results: one engine failure and booster crash during sea landing; The ship deployed test satellites, reached planned trajectory, survived reentry and exploded after splashdownEttay Nevo, Davidson Institute for Science Education|Seven months after the last test flight of the second generation of the Starship system, SpaceX carried out the first launch of the third version on Saturday night, with mixed results.After the previous night’s launch was delayed by an hour and eventually canceled, the Super Heavy booster lifted off at the very start of the launch window between Friday and Saturday. It was the debut launch from the new pad built at the company’s space base in South Texas, and it passed the initial test successfully.Successful launch SpaceshipAll 33 of the new Raptor 3 engines on the booster operated as planned, although one shut down earlier than intended. Two minutes and 40 seconds after liftoff, a “hot staging” separation was performed, with the spacecraft’s six engines igniting before full shutdown of the booster’s engines. The spacecraft continued into space, but one of its three vacuum engines shut down. It continued on five engines instead of six, so the remaining engines burned for about a minute longer than planned until it reached the required velocity of around 26,000 km/h.6 View gallery Starship, the moment of launch (Photo: REUTERS/Steve Nesius)The booster continued in free fall and was supposed to perform a controlled landing maneuver over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the company’s South Texas launch site. However, it likely failed to execute the maneuver and crashed into the sea in a less controlled impact than planned.Starship flight test 11