SpaceX Launched Its Giant New Rocket But Explosions End The 2nd Test Flight

SpaceX launched its gigantic rocket Starship, but the booster and the spacecraft were destroyed in a pair of explosions minutes into the test flight on Saturday.

After taking off from South Texas, the rocketship reached orbit before losing contact. According to SpaceX officials, the ship’s self-destruct system blew it up over the Gulf of Mexico.

The detached booster had burst over the gulf minutes before. But by then, its mission was done.

Saturday’s demonstration lasted nearly eight minutes, roughly twice as long as the previous test in April, which similarly culminated in an explosion. The most recent flight ended just as the ship’s six engines were about to complete its round-the-world journey.

Starship, with a height of approximately 400 feet (121 meters), is the largest and most powerful rocket ever created to ferry people to the moon and Mars.

SpaceX Launched Its Giant New Rocket But Explosions End The Second Test Flight

“The real icing on the cake today was that successful liftoff,” said SpaceX commentator John Insprucker, stressing that, unlike last time, all 33 booster engines ignited as designed. The rocket likewise disengaged from the spaceship without a hitch, reaching a height of 92 miles (148 kilometers).

“We got so much data,” said commentator Kate Tice, “and that will all help us improve for our next flight.”

Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, stood behind launch controllers at the southern edge of Texas, close to the Mexican border, near Boca Chica Beach. Employees at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, celebrated as Starship took off at dawn. The room fell silent when it became evident that the spaceship had been destroyed.

SpaceX had aimed for an altitude of 150 miles (240 kilometers), barely high enough to carry the bullet-shaped spaceship worldwide, before splashing down in the Pacific near Hawaii about 1 1/2 hours after liftoff, shy of completing a full orbit.

SpaceX Launched Its Giant New Rocket But Explosions End The Second Test Flight

After the April flight demonstration, SpaceX made dozens of upgrades to the rocket and the launch pad. On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration certified the rocket for flight after addressing all safety and environmental issues.

Following the launch on Saturday, the FAA stated that no injuries or public damage had been reported and that an investigation was ongoing to identify what went wrong. The FAA said that SpaceX can only launch another Starship once the evaluation and fixes are completed.

NASA expects Starship to put astronauts on the moon by the end of 2025 or soon after. SpaceX was awarded a $3 billion contract to make it happen by transferring humans from its Orion capsule to Starship in lunar orbit before descending to the surface.

SpaceX Launched Its Giant New Rocket But Explosions End The Second Test Flight

“Today’s test is an opportunity to learn — then fly again,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said via X, formerly Twitter.

The Starship is 34 feet (10 meters) taller than NASA’s Saturn V rocket, which took men to the moon more than a half-century ago, and 75 feet (23 meters) taller than NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, which traveled around the moon and back last year without a crew. It also has roughly double the liftoff thrust.

Nothing of value was aboard Starship during the testing run, as it had been previously.

Musk intends to utilize the reusable mega rockets to carry satellites into orbit around Earth, equipment and people to the moon and, eventually, Mars after Starship is proven.

SOURCE – (AP)