2026年7月24日 / 美国东部时间晚上10:53 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
据报道，SpaceX于周五完成了第13次超重型星舰火箭发射任务：巨型助推器因发动机故障在德克萨斯州墨西哥湾沿岸以“硬着陆”方式精准溅落，而星舰上面级则成功完成了亚轨道飞行，最终溅落印度洋。
这枚高397英尺的两级火箭搭载33台甲烷驱动的猛禽发动机，于美国东部时间下午5:51从SpaceX位于德克萨斯州星舰基地的发射场升空，在约1600万磅推力的推动下拔地而起，为当地居民和游客献上了一场壮观的升空表演。
7月16日的发射尝试因4台猛禽发动机未能正常启动，在发射前最后一秒由计算机指令中止。团队分析遥测数据后更换了6台发动机，将发射时间重置为周四，但因低空云层推迟了24小时。
不过周五天气条件适宜，全部33台一级发动机均正常点火，火箭在基本晴朗的天空中轰鸣升空。
这是第三代超重型星舰的第二次试飞，延续了5月份“V3”原型火箭首飞的经验教训：当时助推器未能命中着陆点，星舰在升空途中提前遭遇发动机停车。
此次任务中，助推器在上升阶段和翻转以准备“返回点火”、反向飞行返回海岸的过程中均按计划完成动作。
但SpaceX随后表示，返回点火提前终止。随后在助推器向海湾坠落时，13台发动机中仅有10台重启以减速准备溅落。当助推器以高于预期的速度撞击水面时，似乎仅有5台发动机仍在运转。
该助推器原本设计可以自行飞回发射塔架，由被称为“机械臂筷子”的巨型机械臂在空中将其回收。但这需要相对缓慢的最终下降过程。显然出于安全考虑，SpaceX选择在第三代原型机初期阶段将其溅落在海湾中。
与此同时，星舰上面级依靠全部6台猛禽发动机的平稳运转继续飞向太空。
在沿亚轨道轨迹滑行期间，星舰部署了20颗第三代星链互联网卫星——这是对该火箭类似“糖果分配器”的有效载荷部署系统的真实测试，卫星从航天器头部附近的插槽逐一释放。
其中6颗卫星配备了相机，用于拍摄星舰的隔热瓦和整体状态，帮助工程师评估此类视频在未来星舰再入大气层前判断航天器健康状况的实用性。
在最后一项测试中，星舰短暂重启了一台猛禽发动机，以展示其在太空中重新启动的能力——这是未来登月任务的必备技能。
随后航天器以腹部朝下的姿态进入大气层，承受炽热高温，随后翻转至直立状态，在发射后1小时5分钟时，依靠火箭动力溅落在澳大利亚西北部海域。
与星舰处于同一亚轨道轨迹的星链卫星预计将在坠入大气层后烧毁——正如SpaceX所言，在抵达海面之前“陨落”。
尽管发动机出现故障，星舰的整体表现对NASA而言仍是好消息——该机构正指望这款上面级的衍生型号作为阿尔忒弥斯计划中宇航员的登月着陆器。
在登月任务中，SpaceX需要发射约15艘超重型星舰加油飞船，在着陆器前往月球迎接由洛克希德·马丁公司制造的猎户座飞船搭载的宇航员之前，为其完成在轨加注燃料。
届时，这艘高165英尺的着陆器将搭载两名宇航员下降至月球表面，在月球南极附近垂直着陆。宇航员将通过外部电梯抵达月球表面，任务完成后再通过同样的方式返回航天器。
首次载人登月着陆任务计划于2028年进行，SpaceX必须加快超重型星舰的试飞进度，以获得载人航天飞行认证，并证明在着陆器发射后数天内安全发射十多艘加油飞船所需的可靠性。
截至目前，登月着陆器型号尚未进行试飞，任何型号的星舰都尚未进入地球轨道。许多NASA资深人士批评该任务架构过于复杂，且单次着陆器登月任务所需的飞行次数过多。
美国政府问责局在周四发布的一份报告中表示，SpaceX在将超重型星舰投入实际使用方面面临重大挑战。
“SpaceX在低温燃料管理技术开发方面的进展是该项目的头号风险，”政府问责局表示，“目前，SpaceX的登月任务计划要求，在人类着陆系统星舰被送往月球轨道并与猎户座飞船对接之前，多艘星舰在近地轨道之间完成在轨燃料转移。”
政府问责局表示，另一项担忧是升级后的猛禽发动机的研发进度，“解决测试中发现的问题”。
“此外，SpaceX在关键节点上比原计划滞后了一年多，”政府问责局称，“其中包括关键设计审查、长时间在轨与燃料转移演示以及无人登月飞行测试。”
该机构表示，登月着陆器项目官员“还预计，在第三代星舰车辆的研发过程中会遇到技术挑战，SpaceX计划用该型号进行首次星舰轨道试飞”。
NASA管理层正在双管齐下推进计划。
由亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝佐斯旗下的蓝色起源公司也在为NASA研发登月着陆器，用于运送货物和阿尔忒弥斯计划的宇航员抵达月球表面。该航天器将由该公司的新格伦火箭发射。这款着陆器同样需要在太空完成在轨加注燃料。
如果星舰着陆器无法按时满足NASA的登月目标，该机构或许可以改用蓝色起源的着陆器。
但在测试第三艘新格伦火箭的主发动机期间，该运载火箭发生剧烈爆炸，几乎完全汽化，同时严重损坏了发射台。该公司希望在年底前恢复试飞，但尚未公布具体细节。
与此同时，NASA正在推进明年在近地轨道进行的阿尔忒弥斯临时飞行任务的准备工作。4名宇航员将搭乘猎户座飞船升空，测试登月着陆任务所需的轨道交会与对接程序。
机组人员将与蓝色起源的着陆器对接，打开舱门并进入舱内，这是本次试飞的一部分内容。随后他们将与星舰交会并对接。但在此次任务中，将使用经过改装的量产型号而非实际登月着陆器。该型号没有载人舱室，宇航员也不会进入其中。
SpaceX’s giant Super Heavy-Starship rocket blasts off on key test flight
July 24, 2026 / 10:53 PM EDT / CBS News
By SpaceX launched its 13th Super Heavy-Starship rocket Friday, with the giant booster chalking up an on-target but “hard” splashdown off the Texas Gulf Coast due to engine issues while the Starship upper stage carried out a successful suborbital hop to the Indian Ocean.
Powered by 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines, the 397-foot-tall two-stage rocket blasted off from SpaceX’s Starbase, Texas, launch site at 5:51 p.m. ET, putting on a spectacular show for area residents and tourists as it climbed away atop some 16 million pounds of thrust.
SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Friday, July 24, 2026. Eric Gay / AP Photo
A launch attempt July 16 ended with a last-second computer-commanded abort when four Raptors failed to start properly. After an analysis of telemetry, six engines were replaced and the launch was reset for Thursday, only to have low clouds prompt a 24-hour delay.
But the weather cooperated Friday, all 33 first-stage engines fired up normally, and the rocket thundered away through a mostly clear sky.
A spectacular view looking down the side of the Super Heavy-Starship a little more than 1 minute after liftoff from SpaceX’s Starbase facility on the Texas coast. SpaceX
It was the second test flight of a third-generation Super Heavy-Starship, building on lessons learned during the initial flight of a “V3” rocket in May when the booster missed its landing target, and the Starship suffered an early engine shutdown on the way to space.
This time around, the booster performed as planned throughout its ascent and again during a flip to line up for a “boostback” burn to reverse course and head back toward the coast.
But the boostback burn ended early, SpaceX later said. Then, as the booster dropped toward the Gulf, only 10 of 13 engines restarted to slow the rocket down for splashdown. Only five engines appeared to be running when the booster hit the water at a higher speed than expected.
The booster is designed to fly itself back to its launch gantry where huge mechanical arms, known as “chopsticks,” can pluck it out of midair. But that requires a relatively slow final descent. For good reason, it now appears, SpaceX opted for initial version-3 splashdowns in the Gulf as a safety precaution.
A camera on the first-stage booster captured the moment of splashdown in the Gulf. SpaceX
The Starship upper stage, meanwhile, continued its climb to space with all six of its Raptor engines operating smoothly.
Once coasting along its suborbital trajectory, the Starship deployed 20 third-generation Starlink internet satellites in a real-world test of the rocket’s Pez-like payload dispenser, releasing the satellites one at a time from a slot near the nose of the vehicle.
Six of those satellites were equipped with cameras to inspect the Starship’s heat shield tiles and general condition to help engineers assess the usefulness of such video for determining the health of future Starships before reentry.
In a final test, the Starship briefly reignited one of the Raptor engines to demonstrate its ability to restart in space, which will be required for future flights to the moon.
The spacecraft then faced the blazing heat of a belly-first reentry before flipping upright and settling to a dramatic rocket-powered splashdown northwest of Australia 1 hour and 5 minutes after launch.
The Starlinks, on the same suborbital trajectory as the Starship, were expected to fall back into the atmosphere and burn up — or as SpaceX puts it, “demise” — before reaching the sea.
A SpaceX drone captured a dramatic view of the Starship settling to a gentle splashdown in the Indian Ocean an hour and 5 minutes after launch from Texas. SpaceX
Engine issues aside, the Starship’s performance was welcome news to NASA, which is counting on a variant of the upper stage to serve as a lunar lander for astronauts in the agency’s Artemis program.
For moon missions, SpaceX will need to launch up to 15 or so Super Heavy-Starship tankers to refuel the lander before it can head for the moon to await the arrival of astronauts in a Lockheed Martin-built Orion capsule.
From there, the 165-foot-tall lander will carry two crew members down to the surface, landing vertically near the moon’s south pole. The astronauts will then ride an external elevator down to the surface and back up again when their exploration is complete.
For the first time, the Starship remained fully intact after splashdown, floating serenely on the surface of the Indian Ocean with many of its onboard cameras still working. SpaceX
With the first such landing targeted for 2028, SpaceX must ramp up its Super Heavy-Starship test schedule to get the vehicle certified for human spaceflight and to demonstrate the reliability required to safely launch more than a dozen tankers within days of the lander’s launch.
As of now, the moon lander variant has not yet flown, and no Starship of any kind has yet been put into Earth orbit. Many NASA veterans have criticized the complexity of the mission architecture and the number of flights that will be needed to get a single lander to the moon.
The Government Accountability Office said in a report released Thursday that SpaceX faces major challenges getting the Super Heavy-Starship ready for operational use.
“SpaceX’s progress in developing its cryogenic fuel management technologies is a top risk for the program,” the GAO said. “At present, SpaceX’s plan for (moon missions) requires on-orbit propellant transfer between multiple Starship vehicles in low-Earth orbit before the HLS (Human Landing System) Starship can be sent to and dock with the Orion spacecraft in lunar orbit.”
A NASA graphic shows SpaceX’s Starship moon lander in comparison with competitor Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander and the Apollo program’s long-retired Lunar Excursion Module, or LEM, used to carry six two-man crews to the moon’s surface between 1969 and 1972. NASA
Another concern is completing development of the upgraded Raptor engines, the GAO said, “addressing issues identified through testing.”
“Furthermore, SpaceX is more than a year behind its original schedule for key events,” the GAO said. “These include the critical design review, the long duration and propellant transfer demonstrations and the uncrewed lunar landing flight test.”
The agency said moon lander officials “also stated that they anticipate encountering technical challenges in the development of the third version of the Starship vehicle, which SpaceX plans to use for the first Starship orbital test flights.”
NASA managers are hedging their bets.
Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is also working on moon landers for NASA to carry both cargo and Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface. The spacecraft will be launched by the company’s New Glenn rocket. That lander, too, will require refueling in space.
If the Starship lander isn’t ready in time to meet NASA’s landing target, the agency may be able to use Blue Origin’s lander instead.
But during preparations to test-fire the main engines of the third New Glenn rocket, the launcher exploded in a spectacular fireball, virtually vaporizing the rocket and seriously damaging its pad. The company hopes to resume test flights by the year’s end, but few details have been provided.
In the meantime, NASA is pressing ahead with preparations for an interim Artemis flight next year in low-Earth orbit. Four astronauts will be launched in an Orion capsule to test the rendezvous and docking procedures that will be needed in lunar orbit for a moon landing mission.
The crew will dock with a Blue Origin lander, open hatches and float inside as part of the test flight. They then will rendezvous and dock with a Starship. But in that case, a modified production model will be used instead of an actual moon lander. It will have no crew accommodations and the astronauts will not go inside.