SpaceX's Starship Rocket Achieves Splashdown in Milestone Test
The Facts
The world's reportedly most powerful rocket ever built, SpaceX's Starship, completed its first successful test on Thursday during its fourth trial, following a liftoff from SpaceX's Starbase near Boca Chica Beach, Texas, at 8:50 a.m. EST.
The Super Heavy booster splashed down less than 10 minutes later in the Gulf of Mexico, while the Starship landed in the Indian Ocean after 40 minutes in orbit.
The Spin
Narrative A
Thanks to the ingenious work of Musk, his engineers, and all others competing in the space world, America is well poised to begin a new Space Age, for the betterment of the country and all of humanity. The incremental progress made is coming closer to getting people back to the Moon, and even Mars for the first time. We should all be awed at the huge innovations being made.
Narrative B
While this is certainly a huge step in space travel, Musk's persona could prove to be a stumbling block to this progress. On one hand, Musk is a polarizing public figure, and on the other, he is deeply embedded in federal contracting. Musk may not sustainably be able to be both in the long run, and he could potentially be excised from the government ecosystem unless he takes more moderate positions on issues.
