SpaceX Starship: BIGGEST Rocket Burns Up In Atmosphere! Was It a Success?

Go to myradar.com/ to get the best-rated weather app there is for Android, iOS & Windows! Weather as you've never seen it before!
Starship clears the tower for the third time! How did it go? Was it a success? Rocket Lab launches another mission! Astra goes private! And a Japanese rocket explodes seconds after liftoff!
#SpaceX #starship #elonmusk #starbase
▶️Patreon: www.wai.to/patreon
▶️WAI Hub: www.whataboutit.space
▶️Redline Helicopters: wai.to/redlineheli
▶️Merch Store US: whataboutit.myspreadshop.com/
▶️Merch Store EU: whataboutit.myspreadshop.de/
▶️WAI Orbit: In collaboration with our friends at SkyFi: / skyfiapp
▶️X (Twitter): www.x.com/FelixSchlang
▶️Instagram: / felixschlang
▶️Facebook: / waispace
▶️WAI Spotify Playlist: spoti.fi/39tmULH
Editing: John Young, Alex Potvin, Stefanie Schlang
Photography: John Cargile, John Winkopp & Stefanie Schlang
3D Animation: Voop3D
Script & Research: Eryk Gawron, Oskar Wrobel, Felix Schlang
LIVE Production: Astro Roadie
Host: Felix Schlang
Production: Stefanie & Felix Schlang
Graphics & Media Processing: Jonathan Heuer, Felix Schlang
Credit:
⭐SpaceX
⭐NASA
⭐TijnM on X: / m_tijn
⭐TijnM on KZbin: / @tijn_m
⭐Jessica Kirsh on KZbin: / @jessicakirsh
⭐Jessica Kirsh on X: / jessica_kirsh
⭐Ryan Hansen Space on KZbin: / ryanhansenspace
⭐Ryan Hansen Space on X: / ryanhansenspace
⭐Ryan Hansen Space on Patreon: / ryanhansenspace
⭐Starship 3D on X: / dstarship3
⭐Cosmic Perspective on X: / considercosmos
⭐Cosmic Perspective on KZbin: / cosmicperspective
⭐ / @everydayastronaut
⭐SpaceX 3D Creation Eccentric on X: / bl3d_eccentric
⭐TDSN on X: / tdsn19
⭐ChromeKiwi on X: / ashleykillip
⭐SpaceX 3D Creation Eccentric on KZbin: / spacex3dcreationeccentric
⭐Alex Delderfield on X: / alex_adedge
⭐LabPadre on X: / labpadre
⭐LabPadre on KZbin: / labpadre
⭐VirtualSpace_3D on X: @Lolomatico3d
⭐VirtualSpace_3D on Patreon: / vs_3d
⭐Nick on X: / chameleoncir
⭐Jerry Pike on X: / jerrypikephoto
⭐Tony Bela on X: / infographictony
⭐Ryan Hansen Space on KZbin: / ryanhansenspace
⭐Ryan Hansen Space on X: / ryanhansenspace
⭐Virtual Space_3D on X: / lolomatico3d
⭐The Ring Watchers on X: @RingWatchers
⭐Lunar Caveman on X: / lunarcaveman
⭐The Space Engineer on KZbin: / thespaceengineer
⭐Starship Gazer on KZbin: / starshipgazer
⭐Starship Gazer on Patreon: / starshipgazer
⭐Starship Gazer on X: / starshipgazer
⭐Greg Scott on X: / gregscott_photo
⭐www.nasaspaceflight.com
⭐Nick Henning on X: / nickhenning3d
⭐ErcX on Twitter: / ercxspace
⭐Alex Svan on X: / alexsvanart
⭐Caspar Stanley on X: / caspar_stanley
⭐Neopork on X: / neopork85
⭐Corey on X: / c_bass3d
⭐Brendan Lewis on X: / _brendan_lewis
📄Links for this Episode:
www.spacex.com
www.spacex.com/starship

[@Whataboutit]

Go to myradar.com/ to get the best-rated weather app there is for Android, iOS & Windows! Weather as you've never seen it before! What’s your take on the outcome of this mission? Was it a complete success, or would you classify it as a failure?

[@zognaldblormpf5127]

Reaching orbital velocity in one piece would be impressive if the year was 1957.

[@bryanillenberg]

@@zognaldblormpf5127 iterative development means it is impressive. The third SLS test article constructed wouldn't have been flight worthy.

[@adamstywall7]

I’m my mind if the launch dates keeps getting shorter then it is a success.

[@ChocoLater1]

It is possible the starship will have 4 flaps on the booster instead of 2

[@larrypalmer8794]

Neither. I would classify it as "partial success," depending upon what SpaceX's true original objectives were.

[@vichotimothy1436]

“This is not CGI dear flat earthers” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Whataboutit]

Had to...

[@Jimmy_Jones]

Yeah. It's all models and camera trickery. /s

[@J.DaviesArt]

It's AI art. They are lying 🤥 lol

[@Rekuzan]

Scientists then: "We unlocked the human genome and put a rover on Mars!" Scientists now: For the LAST TIME, the Earth is NOT FLAT!!!

[@J.DaviesArt]

@@Jimmy_Jones never seen it in real life and they can make things look more real now lol ... and off goes the imagination 😅 funny idea 💡 that's why they created AI 🤣 because people don't believe in the moon landing, so they needed better images to show us.

[@paulbrunton877]

As a 70 year old enthusiast on Elon Musk's space X Starship launches I can watch the videos all the time, and I hope I am still around for the landing on Mars and humans making a new home to live, wishing even better luck to Starship launch number 4, thanks to Felix's latest updates. 😃👍🌝🚀🚀🚀🚀🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇲

[@Whataboutit]

You're so very welcome, Paul! Thank you so much for all the support! I hope that you;ll see the first baby born on Mars!!!

[@MrPaolopink]

I'm 63 and my name also is Paul ( Paolo the italian translation). We saw first man on the Moon, the Shuttle era, and now this incredibile adventure. I'm sure both of us will be around when men will arrive to Mars

[@abeni3432]

You will be here to witness everything; I hope we all will too. What an amazing time to be alive!

[@markknister6272]

I’m 75; watching this made me giddy. I smiled so big my cheeks hurt. This is much better than NASA did for years. Success. Wide open for the world to see. Warts and all.

[@jackflash6377]

Do a little digging on life extension. I can vouch for several of the things being talked about now. I'm 65 and definitely aging backwards.

[@hallahgray3190]

The one thing that you can say about starship is this Progress is made with every launch’ with each launch they get closer to perfection.

[@chrisantoniou4366]

More importantly to my mind, they don't repeat previous mistakes!

[@highnessrm9256]

Test flights are meant to perfect hiccups. So IFT-3 performed better than IFT-2

[@p42uynot59]

​@highnessrm9256 Lets just hope they keep progressing. It's definitely very expensive until they have a successful landing of both booster and rocket.

[@gdutfulkbhh7537]

Will they achieve orbit before bankruptcy, though?

[@TheSalosful]

@@gdutfulkbhh7537 do you have insights into their financials? I believe they can keep the money coming from commercial launches and starlink. I don't know any figures, but I believe their economists know their situation.

[@Bluelagoonstudios]

For me there were 2 mind-boggling sights, after stage separation, the booster in the background in front of our beautiful planet and Starship making speed. And the moment of re-entry. Never seen before. Ha, for me this was a big success, Felix. Because this was the first time Starship was so long in space. It flew into the unknown.

[@odysseusrex5908]

Well, not unknown, we've been flying in space for decades. But it was the first time for Starship, not though, by any means, the last.

[@fcgHenden]

For me, it's the fact that Super heavy successfully launched what essentially amounts to the mass of 200 Ford F-150s to orbit.

[@Bluelagoonstudios]

@@fcgHendenAbsolutely, did you see how fast the rocket pass Mach1? Even maxQ was a few seconds. SpaceX has written history, even we are still in test phase. Fun fact, the door at my balcony was open, and the neighbors came looking what was happening here 🤣

[@Bluelagoonstudios]

@@odysseusrex5908It was, looking out for IFT4, I'm still excited at this very moment

[@disturbed4733]

According to SpaceX this morning: 1. The booster didn't splash down. It had a RUD for unknown reason at 420 meters from the ocean. 2. They did managed to get the PEZ door closed so the test was completed but not as expected. 3. They completed the fuel transfer test 4. They suspect the cold gas thrusters outlets got iced over therefore they lost attitude control, but haven't verified this.

[@BCR81]

420 meters they say? sure, an "unknown" reason 😉

[@yannisepitropoulos]

* 462 meters

[@tcruz4926]

Reaction Control Thrusters is going to become the next big system to be overhauled IMO

[@phoenix0166]

@@yannisepitropoulosthat’s not as fun

[@disturbed4733]

@@yannisepitropoulos 462? Well then, we know exactly what happened. Since it is well known that the number 462 is a blend of the attributes of number 4, the vibrations of number 6 and the energies of number 2 it's obvious that the booster hit resonant frequency and broke apart. 😁 Guess I had an 'Elon moment' when I said 420. 🚬 🚬 🚬

[@karlwest437]

So cool, the views from the onboard cameras as it zoomed through the cloud layers, and during the reentry, the live view of the plasma! 😁

[@Tommy-xq5jw]

The plasma was the star of the show! What a show!

[@Whataboutit]

It was mind blowing! Absolutely spectacular stuff! I already can't wait for IFT4! Hopefully that investigation will be quicker!

[@gottfriedheumesser1994]

If the plasma had been cool the flight would have been successful.

[@user-lv7qn4gw3g]

I literally enjoyed the view looking up, immediately after stage separation. With the thin cloud layer passing beneath you can get a sense of the speed of this monster. It was literally "Hauling Ass!"

[@Tommy-xq5jw]

@@gottfriedheumesser1994 Got to test those heat tiles which did the job, when they were facing in the right direction! x)

[@owusuafriyiedennis4386]

This is real progress by the SpaceX team. The fact that they could take us along the ride, streaming in HD video, that's awesome.

[@robertgagne8892]

Removing the fact that the booster is designed and supposed to be recoverable, and you realize that SpaceX now has the most powerful booster on the planet that is "old school", and NOT recoverable (yet)! That alone has me saying this mission was absolutely successful. The Starship itself crossed the line in to space, and survived everything up to that point, and THAT is icing on the cake! Outstanding test, SpaceX - very very impressive progress :-}

[@Whataboutit]

That’s an excellent point!

[@allangibson8494]

On the otherhand the Artemis SLS has the highest actual proven delivery to orbit capability. The next launch will put 80 tons into low earth orbit.

[@justinheitzman9188]

@allangibson8494 and only cost 10x as much and takes 10x's as long to get one launched. Anyone that has faith in a government ran organization really needs to step back and look at out nations debt. That should tell you how well they run everything. Lol

[@douginorlando6260]

The live video from the starship passing through the cloud layer is as dramatic as anything Hollywood ever generated with CGI

[@MrSpacePhoneRepair14]

Even with a Live video y’all think it’s cgi 😂

[@obbie1osias467]

@@MrSpacePhoneRepair14 😳😳😳

[@Tygerdurden]

I wished they remained on the same camera for the the cloud layer on top but that didn’t happen

[@SpitSharp]

@@MrSpacePhoneRepair14 All the parts where the earth was a about to be shown was cut out lol what a Joke!😂😂😂

[@richardevans9580]

Does anybody remember building their first home made kite?

[@chrischeshire6528]

What a commercial for Starlink. How it reminded me of watching Apollo 4 lift off when I was a kid. The enthusiasm of that generation carries over to this generation. Looking forward to the next flight hopefully in May. Thanks Felix for another great video.

[@Whataboutit]

Chris! Thank you so much for the comment! Yes! All this definitely has Apollo parallels! I am so happy that these new generations finally get their Apollo moments! And we're just getting started!

[@ssgundy]

I don't see how this could be seen as anything but a shining success! This is a third straight successful liftoff. I don't think people understand how difficult and dangerous launching any size rocket is.... just ask Japan who's no technological slouch! And to do it with a vehicle this size with such success is amazing! I love watching these launches! And I love your program Felix, keep it up!

[@chrisantoniou4366]

Not only twice as powerful as the next most powerful, but the only hot staging, and the first ever fully reusable rocket... That SpaceX has gotten as far as it has in so short a time is nothing short of miraculous.

[@ShiangShi-dt1dc]

difference in financial costs and who will profit from it. although this is probably a professional deformation from working as an accountant too often in my practice there have been cases of theft of money in similar cases.

[@Dead-Not-Sleeping]

I'm sorry but the "Third successful" liftoff? Doesn't that mean, by your very metric, that the Japanese rocket that you cite was also a success?

[@chrisantoniou4366]

@@Dead-Not-Sleeping I didn't know the Japanese had launched the biggest and most powerful, completley reuseable rocket into space! I must have missed the memo...

[@ssgundy]

@@Dead-Not-Sleeping I doubt Space One would consider that test as anywhere near successful. But I have no doubt they WILL have successes, just like there will also be failures. And there is no "metric". There's only test and learn. Starship is a very long way from where they want to be. But they are moving very quickly. That's the point for praise. Cheers!

[@KnoppersBomber]

The reentry was wacky to say the least. The plasma grilling Starships rear end was deadly. I‘m surprised it made it as far as it did. Goes to show how good stainless steel does during reentry.

[@karlkarlsson9126]

The cool thing is that it's now the second time we see all the raptors lit up from the get go, it already feels very reliable, and stage 0 seems as stable as never before.

[@SanctuaryLife]

Yep that's one of the huge breakthrough's and standout from this launch - lighting 33 engines for a launch is no longer crazy, it's only going to get more and more reliable now that it's proven.

[@Scanner9631]

I love how all the Starship naysayers forget that they claimed that since the Soviet N1 rocket couldn't make 30 engines work together that therefore SpaceX couldn't make 33 of them work together. Ignoring 50 years of technological advances. They keep moving the goal posts "it will explode on the pad and wipe out Boca Chica like a nuclear bomb". "Hot staging will destroy it" Never can they acknowledge their past predictive failures.

[@GrapeFlavoredAntifreeze]

I have a feeling the only reason why we didn’t see all 33 on the first flight was because stage 0 helped the vehicle almost destroy itself before liftoff

[@Scanner9631]

@@GrapeFlavoredAntifreeze Now how did it do that before the ignition?

[@GrapeFlavoredAntifreeze]

@@Scanner9631 It didn’t, If I’m not mistaken all 33 lit and then 2 immediately failed due to damage

[@johnunderwood-hp8rj]

I watched the launch with you. There was no way I was going to watch from another source. I think this Starship test was very successful. It was very exciting to watch.

[@jazzman81]

Me too, i was on the wai live stream for the entire test. I gave a live presentation with the wai live stream to elementary students.

[@daveorinate5121]

​@@jazzman81 great work man Preparing the next generation for in-space exploration 🎉🎉

[@Whataboutit]

Thank you VERY much! This means the world to us! We couldn't have hoped for a better audience!!!

[@fredgarv79]

I started out with his, but at first it seemed like there were glitches, jittery video so I switched to the everyday astronaut which seemed better, but when it launched he didn't have the space x feed so all we saw was the initial takeoff, but not the ship rising up afterwards. I will stick with Felix next time

[@TechTranslate-wb8yq]

I see this mission as an success, because SpaceX is utilizing the rapid iteration development process: The next rapid iteration steps have been reached: - Hot staging and flyback of the Super Heavy booster - Starship reached orbit - Fuel transfer from header to the main tank - Telemetry and video feed during the first phase of reentry To-Do for IFT-4: - Opening and closing of the payload doors (we saw some movement) - Vacuum restart of Raptor engines - Soft landing (ditching) of Super Heavy booster - Successful reentry of Starship - Soft landing (ditching) of Starship

[@Treblig1969]

The booster did not fly back. They clearly had no control and it was out of fuel. Starship did not reach orbit they just got it into space and then lost control until it burned up in the atmosphere.

[@Wurtoz9643]

@@Treblig1969it did do the boostback successfully though. Also the low fuel is normal as it doesn’t need a lot of fuel to land because it has removed most of the weight by burning the fuel

[@therookiegamer2727]

@@Treblig1969the loss of control is a practical problem, for them to figure out for IFT-4 (that's the entire point of rapid iteration), and starship not reaching orbit was deliberate, and it could have reached orbit IF THEY WANTED TO GET THERE (presumably they didn't, because being in orbit without knowing if you can relight in a vacuum is a recipe for "stuck in orbit") also, as the other person explained, they had control of the booster all the way until the booster failed to ignite properly for landing burn

[@100SteveB]

What is so encouraging is the simple fact that everything that went wrong in flight one was fixed for flight two, and then, everything that went wrong in flight two was solved for flight three. If this consistency continues then there is every chance that for the next flight both the booster and the ship will achieve the goals set for them. Whilst we can guess at what caused the issues seen in flight 3, SpaceX will know for certain.

[@adamstywall7]

The IFT-3 launch was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced I’m glad I got to watch is with you.Everybody sub so we can get to 400k subscribers before his b-day

[@spacegamer85]

I watched it live with WAI. sad that Starstar succumbed to plasma burn through due to uncontrolled roll but overall ITF3 was a huge but not total success.

[@gregedmand9939]

Yes it took our breath away. But I hope for your sake that wonders of life, like watching your own child enter the world, will compete for the list of "most beautiful experiences".

[@Whataboutit]

Aw, man! Thank you so much! This really means a lot to me and to the entire team! You guys ROCK SO MUCH! It was a pleasure watching this with you, and we couldn't have hoped for a better audience!

[@ironspider9280]

Only from space can you fully appreciate the beauty that is the globe of the earth, in all of its flatness.

[@dalinadanergy1432]

Jajajajajsj...a good one.

[@JustaKubrickFan]

Oxy-moronic.

[@waynemasters8673]

All that atmosphere and us.

[@johndoepker7126]

Yeah, this made me laugh !!! I needed a good laugh today !!!

[@dalinadanergy1432]

@@waynemasters8673 Eso solo se logra con dos cosas: Primero Paz, despues Amor....n then we can be, kind of the owners of the atmospheres in all of its diversity...But your people down here on Earth , are having a tremendous bad time learning such basic and beautiful universal principles...

[@chuckm6592]

It launched, all the raptors stayed lit, successful separation, boost back burn was successful, Starship kept going. 3rd launch improved over the 2nd launch. Even though the booster didn't achieve the soft water landing and they struggled with Starship control, it was still a successful test flight. The data they achieved from this flight will be put into flight 4. Like the line in the movie Top Gun, "we need to evaluate what has happened so we can apply what we have learned". I am more confident than ever, SpaceX will get it figured out.

[@therookiegamer2727]

as some people have commented, so far, Starship is an extremely powerful "traditional rocket"

[@chrisantoniou4366]

@@therookiegamer2727 There is nothing "traditional" about Starship. It's twice as powerful as the next most powerful, the only US rocket to attempt hot staging, and it's the first ever fully reusable rocket.

[@tnnetnattninuttn4627]

@@chrisantoniou4366 by traditional he most probably meant disposable

[@GrendelMTL]

That flap cam footage was AMAZING!

[@petercozzaglio6070]

Watching the plasma buildup was spectacular.

[@Whataboutit]

Spectacular stuff. I was missing the words. 🔥❤️

[@LinsteadDM]

@@Whataboutit That was my favourite part of the who thing to be honest.

[@omegavalwin]

i love how The news are calling this yet another failure waste of money. really show their vias, from the 2nd test to this one the improvement was huge it made it to space.

[@jackflash6377]

Most news outlets are a joke now.

[@richardwolf6269]

Except they were right. They are only a fraction of the way to where they should be at this point! How many more years and billions of dollars need to be wasted on polishing this turd?

[@mitchr2474]

To develop this same ship nasa would need 5000 years and 500 quadrillion dollars

[@marimuthu14]

I have a feeling New Glenn will beat Starship to launch actual payload into orbit...Elon bite more than he can chew with Starship. I recommend Spacex just focus on expendable Starship for now...strip it down to reduce cost and maximize payload. Superheavy recovery still look worth pursuing as its almost a success with IFT3...but Starship appear to require major redesign which just gonna delay everything like deployment of Starlink... private space stations and Artemis...

[@markk171]

@@marimuthu14New Glen? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I would venture to guess that New Glen won't even get a initial test flight for at least another year....or more.

[@1003196110031961]

So incredibly proud of everyone who worked to make this happen. We are witnessing history but you are making it happen. God bless you all.

[@davidwallace1594]

Seeing all those Raptors lit up was such an insanely beautiful sight!😍

[@Valisk]

Thanks for the great coverage yesterday. I'm still buzzing!

[@Whataboutit]

Same here!!! Thank you so much for watching it with us!

[@carlostavaresjr958]

I was impressed by how fast it cleared the tower! I think IFT3 was a success, and they needed this test to get the data after IFT2. They def improved. Now, onto IFT4, which I expect to be better!

[@i-love-space390]

The faster the acceleration, the lower the "gravity losses" and the higher the efficiency of the system to translate propellant into altitude and speed.

[@animal9432]

The SpaceX mission was a win / success. They made progress in all areas, captured huge amounts of data which will take some time to process. I hope for a quick turnaround investigation and FAA approval. As an Engineer, I didn't see anything unexpected or requiring excessive delay. If this was Boeing or ULA or Northrup or Blue Origin we'd wait another year before the next launch because of their development and engineering processes. SpaceX manufacturing processes are tailored to a fail quick and repeat development approach. This was fun!

[@marcelogantner]

I don´t care what the others saying. I was a huge sucess for me. What an amazing time to be alive and witness this historical moments. Greetings from space entusiasts from Brazil, SpaceX, Felix and WAI Team.

[@jakekielty1]

Loved watching live with you all!

[@Whataboutit]

Thank you so much! This means the world to us!

[@user-lv7qn4gw3g]

Ditto Jake

[@SP4CEBAR]

Governments: this launches in 6 years SpaceX: 6 launches this year

[@peters-adventure]

Nice 😜

[@Whataboutit]

[@Treblig1969]

Apollo - every launch of Saturn five successfully reached orbit and recovered the ship and crew. It took 7 years from starting from scratch to putting astronauts on the moon. This was over 50 years ago when no one knew anything about how to do this and computers were less powerful than your phone.

[@markk171]

@@Treblig1969 you are correct, however, they never tried to recover any stage of the rocket which means the Starship concept is much more complex. But Apollo was amazing as is Starship!

[@Scanner9631]

@@Treblig1969 Apollo - every launch of Saturn five successfully reached orbit and recovered the ship and crew. Apollo 1? Didn't recover the SHIP recovered the capsule which was fit only for scrap or museum exhibit. Dragon capsules from SpaceX and Falcon 9 boosters can fly again and again. IF Starship even partially works it will be a reusable booster with the ability to put more than twice as much in LEO as Saturn 5. If it fully works you get full reusability. You are like those who said Falcon 9 would not be reusable. You think it can't be done? Fine just stay the hell the out of the way of those who are doing it.

[@TheIslandRiders]

I was crying. I was crying at my desk. That flight cemented a beautiful and frightening future we didn't have access to. And am all for it

[@zebo-the-fat]

Amazing pictures, I was watching the WAI on one screen and the SpaceX stream on another, the WAI seemed to have about 10 seconds delay, not sure why, but overall the WAI coverage was much better! Keep up the good work!

[@CrueMusic]

Great recap Felix!

[@user-bx4yx2vz9o]

great work space x!!

[@zoltanposfai3451]

22:25 Brave helicopter pilot.

[@richh650]

The SpaceX flight was glorious to see and I hope they can make proper determinations in order to make changes to get their star ship back up in the air.

[@budmanzoom4441]

As always, a great report!

[@Whataboutit]

Thank you!

[@TheProcesor1000]

I try to set realistic goals for starship launch ignoring my emotions and I gotta say this flight smashed my expectations completely!

[@stevesoller4571]

They fixed the things that effected the first flight, and identified now items downstream that needed to be fixed. That's a success in a Rapid Iteration environment. They fix those for IFT4 and then find out what new troubles await downstream. At some point they complete the entire flight test. We've had two good hot staging events. That's a huge plus!

[@allangibson8494]

No, we have had one. The first attempt resulted in the destruction of the boost stage by rupturing its tank.

[@B25Mitchel-qy5kg]

I worked for Douglas Aircraft Co. at VAFB in 1965 and watched a couple of Atlas 5 launches and one "end of year inventory clearance sale" when the tanks were intentionally split on ship 300, providing everyone with an awesome view in the afternoon sky. Watching Space X launch and recover Falcon 9 and Starships has brought me back to the exciting days at VAFB, soo cool. Go Space X, go Elon.

[@AcapellaNutella6]

Felix u were so excited during that launch. And happy. It made me smile. ❤

[@Whataboutit]

It was CRAZY!!!

[@StarKerbOfficial]

Congrats WAI Team and SpaceX!

[@Khyranleander]

SpaceX did an amazing job! Yeah, rockets were lost, but they themselves warned it'd likely happen before it launched. Kudos for how far it DID get!

[@williamhatfield8935]

I would like to affirm, along with Spacex rocket scientists, my ability to predict that iteration 4 will self destruct.

[@paulmoffat9306]

After watching this, I had a few conclusions on what happened. One thing became clear, is that the ship RCS system is inadequate - it controlled the attitude for most of the flight, but then lost roll and pitch control. The door slot was opened while the body still had pressure, and then the door could not close for re entry. The ship then 'weathervaned' when encountering atmospheric drag, rotating to place the heavy end first, and the RCS could not restore it. The ship's computers attempted to use the flaps, but with the continued rolling and, by now, tumbling, were ineffective. Then, since the cargo volume had no pressure, due to the slot door not closing, became compromised and the nose section could be collapsed as dynamic pressure increased. Also, while rolling, the TPS tiles were getting air flow getting under the edges that pulled a far number off, that probably would not have happened, if the correct aspect was held for re-entry. (Nose up, tiles down).

[@Meister1551]

The way I look at this mission, it was a success, having accomplished things the previous ships were unable to complete. The process is becoming more streamlined and the data collected will prove to be valuable for future missions. Remember, no one has every done what Space X is doing so of course there will be things that don't go as planned. That's why these vehicles are called Prototypes and these flights tests.

[@Asterra2]

Marcus House seems to be the only one so far to correctly identify that Booster's engine shutdown sequence was likely intended in order to apply a small angular adjustment before cutoff. Think about it: If five engines, all on one side, _inadvertently_ remained firing for several seconds, would that not instead have caused a bit of havoc with Booster's stability? There is a temptation to connect this shutoff sequence with Booster's much later tumble, solely because SpaceX hasn't personally elaborated the minutiae of the sequence-nor are they likely to.

[@ronaldlebeck9577]

Considering how often rockets went "boom" back in the 1950s and early 1960s, and SpaceX got this far in just three launches, I'd say they're doing pretty good. Of course, back in the '50s, we were just learning how to get a rocket to orbit, and have learned a lot since then. Unfortunately, Boeing seems to have forgotten some things and replaced those with greed. You should take a look at what Boeing (and other companies who have defense contracts) spend taxpayer money on sometime.

[@PedroHenriquePS00000]

the plasma scene is so beautiful, imagine watching this live while returning after a bussiness trip in mars,,, WOW the future is GREAT

[@starshipman]

The plasma was the most awesome thing I was watching 👀, couldn't believe it all. Great success

[@Aefweard]

That plasma was something special.

[@AndyPetrie]

WOW, WOW, WOW, what a ride!! great job to all!!

[@simonbucknall3699]

Felix just wanted to say what amazing job you guys did on the broadcast of yesterdays launch, loved it - your reactions were almost as good as the launch itself! Just brilliant, thank you and the team for such a fantastic channel, you rock.

[@MrSodistere]

Felix, thanks for streaming. I wanted to point out that the problems for Starship started very likely with the propellant transfer. It is possible that this changed the center of mass of Starship and started tumbling in space. That uncovered other consequences. The orientation control very likely failed as it is not designed to compensate such a change in inertia. As such the uncovered tiles areas are now exposed to plasma during reentry, specially the the now exposed pez dispenser window, rocket engines, propellant lines, sensors, and at the bottom of the ship became fried. SpaceX should consider to cover the whole ship with tiles for development allowing the ship to live a bit longer a learn more. Thanks again!

[@johncharsley7965]

It was awesome. History in the making!

[@stuartgraca]

I got a bit of criticism for my own thoughts about the payload door and the fins. The problem I see with a horizontal rather than vertical door, is the weakening of the structure and any twist would jamb it, if open it was a re entry problem, as are the fins. For my weal technical knowledge these are four heat sinks that could increase the friction on re entry , I had wondered if it was not better to have a some what oval cross section that can offer an aerodynamic surface and use small jets to maneuver . The fins seemed to be over compensating. Seeing inside the ship it seemed quite fragile.

[@CD-SU]

The PEZ at first glance did seem a bit first phase mock-up 😬

[@seekerstan]

Yes, any time you are building anything that has to be built lightweight in order to function, it will be inherently fragile. This is why spaceflight is hard. Even though the door looked fragile in photos, it is made out of the same stuff as the cybertruck, which seems to be pretty bulletproof.

[@davidlang4442]

Got to remember, at this stage these ships are not much more then flying fuel tanks stacked atop of each other. Unlike fully fleshed out operational ships later on down the road. These will have better structures inside. Learning how to operate these huge ships will take time. Each launch is better then the last. So lessons are being learned. Space X is getting there. For me, wish this had been done 50 years ago.

[@stuartgraca]

@@davidlang4442 one problem the present design has is the infrastructure is in advance of the rocket, so any major changes to the design is reflected in the work on the towers and the existing ships that are almost ready for flight. For me this is especially relevant for the use of fins as controls , I will be interested to hear what as caused the instability after the engines were cut. It appeared that the ship had been turned engine forward so as to fire them for a slowing down maneuver but as there was a problem this engine firing was not done and the ship possibly entered the atmosphere engines first , not the way it was designed for ? It seems to me that Spacex , not Musk himself, are not working on a ship by ship design but are committed to a design which is tweaked after each test, not redesigned. Remember Musk buys into existing companies but he is prepared to force a pace to gain commercial advantages and he as got some very good rocket engineers and CEO

[@shikyokira3065]

Looking at all the struggles other space companies are struggling just to get their rocket launch successfully, its quite a miracle for Starship to make it so far on its 3rd flight.

[@kstricl]

IFT-3 wasn't a resounding success, but still a success. As per @disturbed4733 update comment, they now have the data to move to the next phase with 29. On my list of possible changes to watch for (but probably won't "see"): heaters on the nozzles to prevent icing, a change in restart for the boost back, a change in the door mechanism to resolve the binding issue. I wouldn't be surprised too if we see some RCS nozzles added to the nose of a future Starship to increase total command authority while in orbit - I doubt they will start including hydrazine for that purpose, maybe run from the header tank? And you can be certain that they will at least attempt to get IFT-4 ready by 4/20...

[@jimbmc]

Watched it live AWESOME!

[@Whataboutit]

[@ChocoLater1]

Flat earthers flipping out

[@Whataboutit]

[@jackflash6377]

What a time to be alive. SpaceX is charging forward into the future. The launch and flight were outstanding. Taking us along for the ride was extra bonus points. Can't wait for more!!!!

[@GeoffModulate]

It's how Space-X work, expect issues, expect failure but gather a huge amount of data, refine, test again. So far we've seen a nice incremental improvement in how each launch has performed. Definitely on the right track.

[@user-ce7ic1ze2u]

What an improvement over IFT2!!! Go spacex!

[@UnderTheHoodShow]

This is our "go to" page for Starship updates. We were hoping that the ship got off the pad before we had to start our radio show and it did. We had you up on our monitors until 30 seconds before air (: Watching the excitement of Felix during the launch added to our own excitement. It made it as far as we had hoped. Can't wait to see at least one of the two make it to a splashdown. We speculate one of the two on the next run and both on a regular basis after launch 6. When we got home, we had to watch two more times. You see something new every time you watch again.

[@David_Palacios]

Seeing this launch live was otherworldly, not just because it was such a huge milestone for SpaceX and space flight, but because I just so happened to be working on a SpaceX-related project the company I work in was assigned to. Definitely had me fully invested!

[@meldroc]

Gotta love SpaceX's rapid-iteration development process! They make an amazing amount of progress, as long as they don't mind that the launch site looks like it's being run by Wile E. Coyote...

[@aj1177314]

It was an amazing experience to watch along with you and team. Thank you much for a great live event. Looking forward to the next one

[@Whataboutit]

Already at work! Same as SpaceX! 5 boom lifts are currently up on the OLM for refurbishment! Fingers crossed for a fast FAA investigation!

[@user-lv7qn4gw3g]

@aj1177314, ditto that!

[@braincontrollers666]

I hate media! The Belgium news don’t call oft 3 a success, they call it an other failure. What spacex accomplished is crazy awesome. They learn and integrate new things every time. I think the next flight will get to re entery!

[@DerTypDerBrennt]

I think we all learned in the past few years that the media isnt the best with facts. Of course not all but i almost always dobble check things the mainstream media says^^

[@mathieuSScote]

Spacex "fails" gloriously... LEAPING ALL THE WAY TO MARS

[@camillejchecri]

Those guys in Belgium couldn't set a handkerchief in orbit, and they make comments ???? 😅😅😅 @@DerTypDerBrennt

[@KiRiTO72987]

That's most major news organizations some don't understand that this is how spaceX operates or don't care because being negative generates more clicks/views

[@Whataboutit]

They all do. German media as well and even US media ios definitely 50-50. They are just out for the money.

[@josekennethgreen3705]

you explained it so clear

[@2150dalek]

If SpaceX wasn't concerned about re-usability, then this mission was a %100 success. NASA would've discarded these same boosters, upper stages without a thought.

[@robertwalhout8982]

SUCCESS FOR SURE. So much was learned from a record flight. SpaceX will be worthy of the moon very soon.

[@Whataboutit]

🔥🙌🏼❤️🚀

[@ciebriel79]

Successful failure is what i would call it. keep it going SPACEX!

[@Mentaculus42]

How about “Fail Forward”!

[@johnpayne1117]

SpaceX will now be required to put cameras on every vehicle. Haha

[@RoySATX]

The reentry footage alone was worth the flight, amazing! And seeing the shadow across the Earth of the vapor trail on the way up, candy; Pure candy!

[@P.Galore]

Since both ships were lost, and Starship became uncontrollable, this was a failure.

[@user-fg5dp4hq]

I feel like you guys get the jump on the go team, you have to investigate one vehicle over and over, perfection is around the corner, I am proud of you

[@user-rl4jf7oz7v]

That explosion of Jaxa's rocket was sad but beautiful with that camera perspective

[@crunchtime6244]

Your channel is overstretching Felix. You have too many people and resources and not enough demand for the level of detail you provide. You need to either scale back or diversify as you returns to scale are negative now. The videos are becoming longer and more frequent than your target audience can or wants to absorb. This is a saturated market in which you provided more value before you moved to Texas. Soon Starship launches will be common place and interest will wane, leaving you with an out of control cost base and flagging demand

[@737smartin]

This looks to be a copy and paste of a comment posted 40 minutes previously. Bot, clumsy syndicate, or parrot that’s learned to post on KZbin?

[@imho2278]

KZbin creators always ride the wave, and then fall off it after it peaks. Codyslab, Ben Eater, Joshua Fluke...youtube is a short ride for most. Felix will be saving his cash and eyeing off his next move...but there should be a year or 2 of Spacex disaster yet, and then prep for the moon base will keep him busy.

[@user-lv4lb2gp8n]

A marketing masterpiece in order to keep the money coming. From this point a big success. From the technical point, a huge failure. Again.

[@dennymoningka]

Good explain. Thanks

[@jonathanhughes8679]

3 flights to get this far seems like a success towards a full success in the future. But I’d want to see quite a few successful flights before ever thinking of sending people up.

[@macjonte]

I missed an explosion. The booster explosion last time was best ever. Awesome footage! More like that! ;)

[@craiggodfrey2789]

Loved your rocket lab coverage

[@ViebkeU]

Great recap as usual. From a SpaceX perspective, as they never expected the vehicles to manage back to earth this time, it was a huge success (or a successful failure)! BTW, I love Elliot´s 3D renderings!!!

[@danielroden9424]

cant wait for june! hopefully its another batch of model / software updates to fix the issues. i think the heatshield would have worked if it was pointed in the right direction

[@Whataboutit]

I think the same! 🔥

[@user-xu8om1yo7e]

This was not the launch/failure of a space vehicle; it was a test article being subjected to various portions of the flight envelope that a manned/unmanned production ship will have to exist in. Provided they got enough data to pinpoint the vehicles deficiencies, then it was a success.

[@jumpsokker]

We watched your livestream at work 🎉. It was a journey of excitement 😄. The start was amazing but what was most incredible was the live view during reentry 😮

[@setgonfire7]

Thank you for your positive reviews of this and every SpaceX test flights.

[@jroar123]

The latest is that it looks like Starship managed to make it all the way down to the water. Unfortunatly it doesn't look like the engines relite to slow it down during the touchdown stage.

[@ericmeshenberg3332]

Great reporting,as always !

[@kevinmcquade1688]

I could watch 100 of these launches and it would be absolutely mesmerizing every single time

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

NGL, this video of the reentry is the best space-related thing I've ever seen ❣

[@user-xv8yn4ts7y]

You and the team are awesome! I had a blast watching the starship launch the other day.... thanks guys

[@richardspore1996]

SpaceX 3rd launch of the starship went well each launch gets further than the last one. Way to go SpaceX 👌👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🚀🚀🚀

[@Whataboutit]

❤️🙌🏼

[@RaviNewfarm]

Total success, they got to perform all planned tests, except the relight on the ship, and got a ton of data from the flight.

[@adrianhelerea7190]

Great content, thank you!

[@taavetmalkov3295]

The re-entry without the heatshields properly positioned + the loose c"*t payload door... Kabuush". Epic.

[@Klaatu-ij9uz]

GREAT follow-up analysis!

[@gordonicus4637]

I wanna see the footage (surely there must be some?) of the booster smashing into the gulf at 1000km/h. THAT would be incredible to see!!

[@bugabateinc971]

I saw some tiles fall off at the start of reentry when ice was shedding. I think lack of some tiles, failure to keep a static attitude and the open dispenser all combined to heat and tear shell apart. However, it endured a lot. I venture to say they will see a couple overheat points of failure in low atmosphere during max adiabadic heating. The booster - assuming CH4 O2 was okay- likely just needs to start earlier to recover those good Raptor engines

[@RetroJack]

"The beast known as Starship was released" You've got such a way with words, Felix - I love it!