Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship made it to space before two explosions destroyed it minutes into the test flight. But Musk doesn’t see this as a setback
SpaceX* launched its mega rocket Starship* but lost both the booster and the spacecraft in a pair of explosions minutes into Saturday’s test flight.
The rocket ship reached space following lift-off from South Texas before communication was suddenly lost.
SpaceX officials said it appeared the ship’s self-destruct system* blew it up over the Gulf of Mexico.
Minutes earlier, the separated booster* had exploded over the gulf. By then, though, its job was done.
“What we did will provide invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship,” Elon Musk’s company announced Saturday after the early morning event drew crowds of spectators to nearby beaches. Musk watched from behind controllers at the base.
“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability* as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary*,” SpaceX added.
Saturday’s demo lasted eight or so minutes, about twice as long as the first test in April, which also ended in an explosion.
Musk posted to X at the time: “Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.”
The latest flight came to an end as the ship’s six engines were almost done firing to put it on an around-the-world path.
At nearly 121m, Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, with the goal of ferrying* people to the moon and Mars.
“The real topping on the cake today, that successful lift-off,” said SpaceX commentator John Insprucker, noting that all 33 booster engines fired as designed, unlike last time.
