The SpaceX Starship explodes after launch for a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, 2023. - The rocket successfully blasted off at 8:33 am Central Time (1333 GMT). The Starship capsule had been scheduled to separate from the first-stage rocket booster three minutes into the flight but separation failed to occur and the rocket blew up.
SpaceX, led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, successfully launched its next-generation Starship cruise vessel aboard the company's powerful new Super Heavy rocket on Thursday, April 20. However, the unmanned test mission was cut short in an explosion minutes later.
Almost a Success
SpaceX's two-stage rocket ship is 394 feet (120 meters) tall and, therefore, higher than the Statue of Liberty. According to Reuters, it lifted off from the Starbase spaceport east of Brownsville, Texas, on its first voyage into space, which the firm thought would take at most 90 minutes.
Through a SpaceX livestream, viewers could see the rocket ship blast out from the launch tower into a clear sky, accompanied by flame and clouds of exhaust from the Super Heavy's Raptor engines.
Unfortunately, less than four minutes into the flight, the upper-stage Starship was unable to detach as intended from the lower-stage Super Heavy. This caused the two vehicles to collide and flip end over end before exploding.
Before it exploded in flames, the spaceship climbed to a height of around 32 kilometers (20 miles).
The Brains Behind it
SpaceX webcast executives still praised the launch as a success and proclaimed the short incident to be an effective test flight since it was the first time the Starship and booster rocket had been properly connected.
Webcam footage showed a large group of SpaceX employees gathering at the company's offices outside of Los Angeles. They watched the video together and cheered enthusiastically as the rocket left the launch tower but then exploded in the sky.
One of the webcast commenters, SpaceX lead integration engineer John Insprucker, predicted that the test flight would provide plenty of useful information that would allow the business to continue with further testing.
SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk tweeted that the company's second Starship test flight will occur "in a few months."
"Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months," he stated in a Twitter post.
Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK
'Most Powerful Rocket'
According to CNBC, the Starship rocket is an essential part of NASA's plan to send astronauts back to the moon since it can transport both goods and passengers to and from Earth and beyond.
For roughly $3 billion, NASA has contracted SpaceX to deploy Starship as a crewed lunar lander. This contract was awarded to SpaceX two years ago. This would include NASA's SLS rocket and Orion capsule transporting humans to the lunar surface via Starship as part of the Artemis moon mission.
The first orbital Starship launch had been planned for the summer of 2021. However, the business encountered technical delays and only received certification from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) late on Friday, April 14.
