Starship SN15 is an experimental rocket designed by SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musk ‘s private space company , to carry people and 100 tons of cargo on future flights to the moon and Mars .
SpaceX successfully launched the Starship SN15 rocket prototype. Similar test flights of the Starship SN9 and SN10 rockets earlier this year ended in fiery explosions, including one during landing and one shortly after the rocket successfully landed in a vertical position.
The Starship rocket is a reusable launch vehicle.
The Starship rocket is SpaceX’s next-generation reusable launch vehicle. Billionaire Musk has ambitions to make human space travel more affordable and frequent in the future.
SpaceX has just successfully launched the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center. NASA describes this as the beginning of a new phase for US activities in space.S
paceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is launched from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA on February 19, 2017 – Photo: Reuters
According to CNBC, on February 19, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was successfully launched from a NASA launch pad, sending a cargo spacecraft supplying the International Space Station (ISS) into orbit, after which the rocket returned safely to Earth.
One day before the launch date, SpaceX suddenly canceled the planned Falcon 9 launch due to undisclosed technical reasons.
With the successful launch of a rocket carrying a spacecraft into orbit on February 19, SpaceX became the first private technology corporation to successfully launch a rocket from a NASA launch pad.
The February 19 launch was SpaceX’s 10th resupply mission to the ISS. It was also the first time SpaceX used the LC-39A launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, which the company has leased from NASA since 2014.
The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, designed to carry satellites, put the Dragon spacecraft into orbit very quickly after launch. The Dragon is on its way to the ISS and is expected to arrive on Wednesday (February 22).
The Falcon 9 launch on February 19 was a success after two previous failures by SpaceX. Last September, an explosion occurred right at the launch pad, destroying both the rocket and the satellite it carried. Previously, in June 2015, a similar incident occurred right after launch.
SpaceX boss Elon Musk is one of the technology leaders pioneering a new era of space exploration.
In a statement after the successful Falcon 9 launch, SpaceX said the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft “were designed from the beginning with the goal of flying humans into space, and under an agreement with NASA, SpaceX is working hard toward that goal.”