Starships Are Meant To Fly
On Saturday, April 8, 2023, Panther Aerospace completed its first public event of 2023, Starships Are Meant To Fly. This event was a standalone event dedicated to the new Panther Aerospace Starship and all remodels worked on over the past winter. The footage gathered during this event is crucial for the production of the Launchapalooza III: The Final Countdown movie.
The Starship event started off with the new Turbo Copter, launching a funni number mission, with its parachute failing to deploy. 5 more launches happened after this, with Javelin being the first of this event to have its parachute successfully deploy. Ninja, a new miniature rocket, was launched earlier than expected while on the pad.
Starship launched on its maiden flight, completing the 275th mission for Panther Aerospace, undergoing a dogleg maneuver, bellyflop, parachute deployment and successful catch attempt, easily one of the greatest launches of all time.
Next up was Independence, launching on its first flight following its remodel, launching to a low altitude, where John, Panther Aerospace's leader, almost caught it on final descent.
The event was finished with the launches of Comanche-3, testing out its new parachute, the brand new Electron, and the Outlaw, which was nearly lost, except for its nose cone.