Today I want to follow up on my rant about the way this article reported on Starship's Integrated Flight Test 3.
If you are not following the topic closely, you are probably not a ware of how SpaceX operates and what the goal of the Integrated Flight Tests (IFTs) is. SpaceX believes in an approach to rocket development, where you put the hardware into actual flight conditions as soon as it is viable. They did it successfully with Falcon 9, and they continue to do it with Starship. And especially with Starship they do the testing so publicly, that one can easily forget that it is still just that: A test.
I was not around, when NASA's Apollo program commenced, but those that were, will remember the TV broadcasts and the attention of the public towards those rocket launches. But while NASA had never flown the Saturn V before an actual mission, SpaceX does just that with Starship right now. And they do it publicly, which is a first in spaceflight. Let me take a step back here. The way NASA developed rockets was very costly and the fact, that they were not reusable made this even worse. And as cost was already high, they could not afford to lose several vehicles during testing. So instead they took a huge amount of time to test and verify every ever-so-small component of the vehicle, so they could be certain the whole system would fly successfully on the first try. SpaceX is able to produce rockets at a way lower price and the fact that they will be reusable decreases the effective cost even further. So they can afford to actually fly the rocket, even if they know, that something might go wrong. But they take the necessary precautions and with every flight they learn a tremendous amount about how to build this rocket to eventually fly successfully. And with this approach they even become faster in reaching the goal of a working and reliable rocket.
I believe all of the above contributes to some misunderstandings and confusion towards what an IFT ultimately is: A test. Even if you can watch it in a live stream, very similar to the Saturn V launches of the Apollo program. But the definition of success is different from that of a Saturn V launch. While the latter had to put humans into space, the IFTs aim to achieve realistic milestones throughout flight to learn and improve. They do not have to make one hundred percent sure, to not lose the rocket, they just need to make sure, that no one on the ground gets harmed and that they gather as much data as possible about the flight and what potentially went wrong. Of course everyone hopes for even greater success than they aim for, but even if they fall short on the milestones, they still learn. And that is what these tests are all about: Learning.
So if I were to formulate a key takeaway for you, dear reader, I would say this: Starship is making tremendous progress and one can only imagine how much the next test will achieve. But it is safe to say: They will pick up the pace and there will be more frequent updates in the near future. What a time to be alive and interested in spaceflight!