STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
A rocket that's crucial to SpaceX and NASA reached orbit for the first time. It's the 170-foot-tall Starship. And it launched from Starbase in Texas on Monday, circled the Earth twice and then splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. Central Florida Public Media's Brendan Byrne has more.
BRENDAN BYRNE, BYLINE: On a picture-perfect early morning, 33 engines of Starship's Super Heavy booster roared to life.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Four, three, two, one.
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE ROARING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Starship.
BYRNE: Two and a half minutes later, Starship separated, burning its six engines. But one of them shut down early. SpaceX engineers had minutes to decide whether to reignite and send it into orbit or bring Starship home without achieving it.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: And we are go for orbit.
(CHEERING)
BYRNE: Starship orbited the Earth twice during its three-hour mission. SpaceX had planned for 10 hours but decided to bring Starship home early due to that engine issue. There's a lot riding on the success of Starship. SpaceX needs it to make money. And NASA chose Starship as one of the two potential vehicles to land humans on the moon. Despite the shortened flight, Don Platt, director of the Spaceport Education Center at the Florida Institute of Technology, says the company is moving in the right direction.
DON PLATT: I think they're in a better place now than yesterday, certainly, getting an orbital mission under their belt. There's a lot of things that are still - things that have to be addressed.
BYRNE: During the mission, Starlink deployed 26 of a brand-new iteration of its Starlink satellites for its internet constellation. They're big and can only be launched on Starship. And NASA needs Starship, too. The Artemis III mission, launching late next year, will test the ability of the Orion spacecraft to rendezvous and dock with potential lunar landers, including Starship.
PLATT: So now they can say that the Starship aspect of the Artemis III mission at least has been demonstrated at a low fidelity, if you will, level. There's still a lot of work that has to take place before this Starship is ready for Artemis III.
BYRNE: That work includes developing a life-support system and the ability to transfer fuel in space, things that SpaceX has not yet tested on Starship. Still, demonstrating Starship can get to orbit is a big step. And it came 18 years to the day that SpaceX's first rocket, the Falcon 1, reached the same milestone. For NPR News, I'm Brendan Byrne in Orlando.
(SOUNDBITE OF FLASKKVARTETTEN'S "INNOCENT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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