Starship’s Skydive Manoeuvre
SpaceX’s Starship is a one-of-a-kind rocket that reflects the cutting-edge technology of rocket science in numerous ways.
In September 2016, the first detailed concept of a ‘Mars-colonizing’ spacecraft was revealed. This spacecraft included a 100-passenger vehicle as well as a booster to launch it from Earth. The spacecraft, now known as Starship, and the rocket, known as Super Heavy, will finally reach orbit and return, as it was designed from the beginning to be the first 100 percent reusable rocket. The pair will be able to lift 100+ tonnes into LEO (Low Earth Orbit) when stacked atop its rocket, the Super Heavy.
But first, Starship must prove that it is capable of completing a crucial step in the process: ascending 15 kilometers from the sky, freefalling, and landing.
What is the safest way to land a 50-meter-high spaceship on the ground?
That is indeed a difficult question to answer. It was a landmark moment when SpaceX successfully landed a Falcon 9 rocket for the first time in 2015. The technique it will use to achieve this absolutely incredible feat is : it will execute what is known as “the Skydive Maneuver” or “the belly flop maneuver.”
Both the spacecraft and the rocket are powered by SpaceX Raptor engines, which are more powerful than the Merlin engines that were used to drive SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
What is the ‘Skydive Maneuver’ (aka The Belly Flop Maneuver)?
Starship will make a controlled descent, similar to that of a skydiver. With the grid fins guiding it precisely, the aircraft would re-enter the atmosphere, slow down to near-zero horizontal velocity, and then free-fall straight down, using its fins to guide the trajectory.
For example, SN8 can reach a height of 15 kilometres using its three Raptor engines. The rocket would then flip 90 degrees onto its side once the engines have been turned off. At this stage, the rocket will fall back to Earth, unpowered. The four fins attached to the rocket’s base and nose would be the only point of power. The Starship will then flip back to an upright state, re-ignite its rocket motors, and perform a powered landing until it is just a few hundred feet off the ground.
Why utilize such a landing sequence?
In theory, such a tactic would greatly decrease the amount of fuel used by Starships to land in different atmospheres. The new landing model, on the other hand, has little in common with Falcon 9’s efficient landing approach from 2015.
Hence, the Skydive Maneuver is best suited for the highly cylindrical design of Starships. This maneuver reduces the speed immensely for re-entry, while supporting fuel economy. The use of flaps to control the Starship, specifically during the Skydive Maneuver, received its equal share of criticisms and praise from all around the world. But SpaceX’s ability to demonstrate it time and again in all the Starship flight tests, is a testament to their next-generation engineering which would help make Interplanetary travel a reality in the near future.
