Elon Musk indicated that the recovery of SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13 is “not looking good,” despite the spacecraft successfully splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday. The flight, which was part of a series of test missions, took off from the SpaceX facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

Musk provided the update via social media shortly after the splashdown, expressing concerns about the vehicle’s ability to be recovered intact. “It was a successful flight, but recovery is uncertain,” Musk stated.

The Starship Flight 13 mission aimed to test systems and gather data necessary for future manned missions to the Moon and Mars. The spacecraft reached a height of approximately 12 miles before descending back to Earth.

SpaceX has conducted multiple test flights of the Starship system, with varying levels of success in terms of recovery. Previous flights have faced challenges during landing and recovery operations, impacting the timeline for future missions.

The Starship program is pivotal to SpaceX’s ambitions of enabling human life beyond Earth, with goals for interplanetary travel. The company aims to provide a fully reusable spacecraft capable of carrying large payloads and crew.

Despite the setback in recovery for Flight 13, experts believe the data gathered during the flight will contribute to improving the next generation of Starship missions.

Source: news source