What Exactly Happened On SpaceX's Third Starship Launch Attempt?

After only 117 days since the last full Starship flight, the third attempt just took place and was by far the most impressive. Here we saw significant improvements from the past flight with a successful hot-stage separation, booster reentry, an upper-stage coast phase, and even upper-stage reentry. They even managed to complete a host of other tests related to future Starship operations. Here I will go more in-depth into what happened on this third flight test, where some issues arose, what went well, and more.

Credit:

Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:27 - Third Launch Attempt

[tray]

Gave me chills seeing the plasma grow and wrap around the ship. I don't think anyone has ever been able to watch that live due to the blackout period. I bet the 4th launch is going to check the splash down box.

[asmodiusjones]

Old-school NASA: failure is not an option

SpaceX: don’t expect this to work

[phaandorpertwee]

Best summary of IFT-3 that I could find by now. Thank you for that.

[seanplace]

I don't think I've ever seen the reentry of a spaceship LIVE before. It's only possible through satellite relays since terrestrial antennas lose signal due to the plasma.

[BubberTubber]

Great summary. Thanks for getting good content out fast!

[FTTT]

SpaceX : Rocket Explodes
SpaceX : "It's icing on the cake"

[peten]

The improvement was extreme. I hope this allows the next launch come much sooner.

[jameskelly]

4:50 "Issue with attitude control and general orientation."
That's an understatement!
I watch it live, and Starship was rotating for a while before re-entry, I got dizzy from the footage.
It basically re-entered sideways.

[zbcc]

Nice summary. Thanks. Here's a comment for the Algo.

[hdufort]

That launch was amazing, the booster and vehicle performed well, reaching space and accelerating to near orbital speeds. I'll be happy to read more about the booster crash at high speed, and the vehicle's disintegration during reentry.

[lyricbread]

Excellent summary and analysis @TheSpaceBucket Although your frequency has been less recently, the quality and content has gotten even better. ❤

[eurojackpotter]

The flight was incredible. The re-entry footage is unbelievable.

[RetroJack]

Rumor has it the onboard computer refused to open the pod bay door.

[richardmattocks]

The speed the grid fins move is phenomenal when you realise they are HUGE!

[magnum]

Thank you for this summary of the test!

[vbnautical]

great recap. shared with friends/family who need the cliffs notes

[Crunch_dGH]

The most astute reportage. Very informative!

[eastonwilliams]

Congratulations SpaceX!! Job well done🎉

[leokimvideo]

I watched the video feed of this launch and the whole mystery of what happened to Starship was up where with where's Princess Kate. No one seemed to know. Both missing in action

[Miata]

As enthusiastic as SpaceX and its fans are about this flight I expect that NASA was less so. The failures that we saw broadcast were more fundamental than "iterative."