The Facts
After launching from Texas Thursday morning, the SpaceX Starship rocket entered outer space before detaching from its booster and conducting a controlled descent back to Earth. While in orbit, it transferred liquid oxygen between two tanks, simulating a re-fueling.
The heat of the air during re-entry eventually cut communication between the base and the spacecraft, but not before attached cameras — powered by the company's Starlink internet satellites — broadcast video footage of the flight.
The Spin
Narrative A
While the Starship program isn't quite ready to shuttle humans to Mars, this extraordinary and historic display of aerospace engineering shows SpaceX is on its way to achieving its goals. Not only will this rocketship launch Americans back into space, but it will do so at a much lower cost if both the spaceship and booster can be consistently reused.
Narrative B
While SpaceX — as is the case with many other Musk-owned companies — is accomplishing incredible things, we can't forget that almost all of his start-ups have been boosted significantly by government funding. Out of all of Musk's business ventures, SpaceX rockets will receive the most taxpayer dollars — so is it truly worth the cost when this industry likely turns into a for-profit space tourism enterprise? If tax dollars are going to be spent anywhere, maybe the government should go back to subsidizing the more beneficial industry of electric cars.
