TECH - SpaceX Gambled With Starship's Reentry Method Says Senior Exec: 'There Was Still A Chance That This…Would Fundamentally Not Work' | Benzinga
SpaceX senior executive Lars Blackmore on Sunday said that the company gambled with the technology aimed at entering its ambitious Starship vehicle back to Earth from orbit.
What Happened: “…landing Starship on the ocean feels as significant as Falcon 9's first landing,” Blackmore, who is responsible for entry, descent, and landing of the Starship rocket, wrote on X.
The Starship relies on flaps to re-enter Earth from orbit instead of wings and the company gambled on the success of the method, he said. Until the recent flight test when the launch vehicle made it back through Earth’s atmosphere, there was still a chance that the method and the ship designed around the method would “fundamentally not work,” the executive said.
“Flight 4 showed that the gamble paid off, and it feels like only a matter of time until we iterate ourselves to a fully and rapidly reusable rocket,” Blackmore wrote.
The successful flight test Blackmore referred to was conducted earlier this month on ...