2026年5月22日 / 美国东部时间下午6:47 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）于周五发射了经过改进的超重型星舰火箭，本次试飞旨在测试更强劲的发动机、升级后的控制系统以及其他一系列旨在简化运营流程、提升安全性和可靠性的改进。
一旦投入运营，埃隆·马斯克旗下的这家公司将依靠这款巨型火箭发射更大尺寸的星链卫星以及政府和商业有效载荷，并最终推动月球乃至火星任务的开展。
这款升级后的超重型星舰于美国东部时间下午约6:30从位于德克萨斯州墨西哥湾沿岸的SpaceX星base发射场的全新加固发射台升空。本次发射原定于周四进行，但因发射台系统出现小故障临时取消，此前还曾因天气原因两次推迟。
超重型助推器一级底部搭载的33台甲烷燃料猛禽发动机可产生高达1800万磅的推力——是美国国家航空航天局（NASA）太空发射系统（SLS）登月火箭起飞功率的两倍——推动这枚407英尺高的火箭冲天而起，尾部喷射出耀眼的蓝白色火柱。
这是“3型版本”超重型星舰的首次发射，也是SpaceX德克萨斯州第二个发射台的首次使用，该发射台专为承受这款全球推力最强火箭的重复发射严苛环境而设计。
升空2分24秒后，星舰上级在脱离超重型助推器一级前，其搭载的6台猛禽发动机在脱离稠密低层大气后点火。
按照程序，助推器将完成翻转、调头并返回星base，最终在墨西哥湾受控溅落，但该火箭出现了一些发动机故障，未能抵达预定目标。
SpaceX在其官网表示：“助推器的主要测试目标是完成成功发射、爬升、级间分离、返航点火以及在墨西哥湾近海着陆点的着陆点火。由于这是大幅重新设计的飞行器的首次飞行测试，助推器不会尝试返回发射场进行回收。”
助推器溅落后约1分10秒，160英尺高的星舰上级发动机预计将关机，将航天器送入弧形亚轨道轨迹，目标是借助猛禽发动机在印度洋溅落。
在太空滑行阶段，飞行计划要求从类似皮糖 dispenser的装置中释放22个星链卫星模拟器，其中两个搭载相机，用于在再入大气层时拍摄隔热瓦。
总体而言，超重型星舰配备了约50台相机，将通过星链卫星系统向地面传回影像。
本次飞行计划还要求在太空环境中重新点燃其中一台猛禽发动机，以测试太空环境下的启动程序。工作人员特意拆除了一块隔热瓦，用于测量再入大气层时对周围隔热瓦的热效应和结构影响。
SpaceX在发射前表示：“最后，飞船将执行此前试飞测试过的实验动作，包括有意对飞行器尾部襟翼的结构极限施加压力的机动动作，以及模拟未来返回星base的任务将采用的动态倾斜机动动作。”
通往月球之路的里程碑
3型版本的试飞是SpaceX的重要里程碑，该公司目前正致力于完善首款可完全重复使用的火箭，用于发射政府和商业卫星、科学探测器，并最终开展载人火星飞行任务。
此次试飞对NASA同样至关重要，NASA正付费给SpaceX，要求其开发一款星舰上级作为着陆器，从2028年起将该机构的阿尔忒弥斯宇航员送上月球表面。此后不久，NASA计划每年启动多次任务，并在月球南极附近建立基地。
短期内，NASA计划在2027年发射下一次阿尔忒弥斯任务，将四名宇航员送入猎户座飞船，由SLS火箭搭载，在地球轨道与SpaceX的着陆器以及杰夫·贝佐斯旗下蓝色起源公司建造的备选着陆器交会。
NASA计划在阿尔忒弥斯三号任务中对两款着陆器进行测试，但即便只有一款可用，任务仍将推进。两家公司都必须在2028年宇航员登月任务前完成一次成功的无人登月任务。
两家公司都尚未将月球着陆器送入太空，且都面临着艰巨的测试进度。随着3型版本的旗舰火箭投入使用，SpaceX正努力从亚轨道试飞过渡到轨道任务，同时继续完善登月任务所需的各项系统。
当前面临的一大挑战是，在星舰着陆器前往深空之前，能够在地球轨道上自主为其加注燃料。3型版本的星舰现已配备了此类操作所需的对接点和燃料传输系统。
SpaceX表示，一系列轨道加油测试中的首次测试计划于今年年底前进行。
SpaceX launches more powerful Super Heavy-Starship rocket on test flight
May 22, 2026 / 6:47 PM EDT / CBS News
SpaceX launched a revamped Super Heavy-Starship rocket Friday on a flight to test more powerful engines, enhanced control systems and a host of other upgrades needed to streamline operations and improve safety and reliability.
Once operational, Elon Musk’s company is counting on the mammoth rocket to launch larger Starlink satellites and government and commercial payloads, and eventually propel missions to the moon and even Mars.
The upgraded Super Heavy-Starship blasted off at about 6:30 p.m. EDT from a new, beefed up pad at SpaceX’s Starbase launch site on the Texas Gulf Coast. Launch followed a last-minute scrub Thursday due to a minor glitch with a launch pad system and two weather delays beforer that.
Generating up to 18 million pounds of thrust — twice the liftoff power of NASA’s SLS moon rocket — the 33 methane-burning Raptor engines at the base of the Super Heavy first stage pushed the 407-foot-tall rocket skyward atop a brilliant torrent of blue-white fire.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off on a test flight from Starbase, Texas, May 22, 2026. Steve Nesius / REUTERS
It was the first launch of a “version 3” Super Heavy-Starship and the first use of SpaceX’s second Texas launch pad, designed to better withstand the rigors of repeated launches by the world’s most powerful rocket.
Two minutes and 24 seconds after liftoff, now out of the dense lower atmosphere, the Starship upper stage’s six Raptors ignited just before the Super Heavy first stage fell away.
It was programmed to flip around, reverse course and head back toward Starbase for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf, but the rocket had some engine trouble and didn’t reach its target.
“The booster’s primary test objective will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America,” SpaceX said on its website. “As this is the first flight test of a significantly redesigned vehicle, the booster will not attempt a return to the launch site for catch.”
About a minute and 10 seconds after booster splashdown, the 160-foot-tall Starship upper stage engines were expected to shut down, putting the spacecraft on an arcing sub-orbital trajectory targeting a Raptor-assisted splashdown of its own in the Indian Ocean.
During its coast through space, the flight plan called for the release of 22 Starlink satellite simulators from a Pez-like dispenser, including two with cameras to photograph heat shield tiles during re-entry.
The Super Heavy first stage is powered by 36 Raptor engines burning methane and oxygen. In this shot from an earlier test flight, the Raptors are seen burning in concert to propel a Super Heavy-Starship out of the lower atmosphere. The latest version of the rocket features more powerful engines, capable of generating a combined 18 million pounds of thrust. SpaceX
Overall, the Super Heavy-Starship is equipped with about 50 cameras that will send imagery to the ground via the Starlink satellite system.
The flight plan also called for one of the Raptor engines to be re-ignited in space to test start-up procedures in the space environment. One heat-shield tile was deliberately removed to measure the thermal and structural effects of re-entry on surrounding tiles.
“Finally, the ship will perform experimental actions tested on previous flight tests, including a maneuver to intentionally stress the structural limits of the vehicle’s rear flaps and a dynamic banking maneuver to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly,” SpaceX said before launch.
As with earlier test flights, the Starship upper stage is expected to re-enter the atmosphere in a belly first orientation before flipping vertical for a rocket-powered descent to splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This view shows an earlier Starship seconds before the spacecraft hit the water. SpaceX
A milestone on the path to the moon
Version 3 test flights are major milestones for SpaceX as the company works to perfect the first fully reusable rocket for operational use launching government and commercial satellites along with science probes and, eventually, piloted flights to Mars.
The flights also are critical to NASA, which is paying SpaceX to develop a version of the Starship upper stage for use as a lander to carry the agency’s Artemis astronauts to the surface of the moon starting in 2028. Shortly thereafter, NASA plans to begin launching multiple missions per year and to build a base near the moon’s south pole.
In the near term, NASA plans to launch its next Artemis mission in 2027, sending up four astronauts in an Orion capsule atop an SLS rocket to rendezvous in Earth orbit with SpaceX’s lander and an alternative being built by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.
An artist’s impression of SpaceX’s Starship moon lander compared to the squat lunar modules that carried Apollo astronauts to the lunar surface more than 55 years ago. NASA/SpaceX
NASA plans tests with both landers during the Artemis III mission, but the flight will proceed even if only one is available. Both companies must launch a successful unpiloted moon landing mission before the agency will attempt to land astronauts in 2028.
Neither company has yet put a moon lander in space and both face daunting test schedules. With version 3 of its showcase rocket now available, SpaceX is working to transition from sub-orbital test flights to orbital missions while continuing work to perfect the systems that will be needed for moon missions.
A major challenge is the ability to autonomously refuel a Starship lander in Earth orbit before it can head for deep space. The version 3 Starship now features the attachment points and fuel-transfer systems that will be needed for those operations.
SpaceX says the first in a series of orbital refueling tests is planned before the end of the year.
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