Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s new giant rocket “exploded” just minutes after taking off in its first uncrewed test flight on April 20. The 400-foot Starship launched from South Texas and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.
Apparently, SpaceX aims to send the Starship on a “round-the-world” journey without any cargo to test its capacity to transport cargo or even people to the moon and Mars.
Reuters reports that the test flight marks the “first for Starship mounted atop the company’s new Super Heavy rocket.” It was also reportedly the first launch for the lower-stage booster, which SpaceX has billed as the most potent launch vehicle on Earth.
The two-stage rocket vehicle ascended to just below 25 miles (40 km), less than midway to the edge of space. Despite several of its engines failing, the flight was successful in achieving the initial goal of taking off the new Starship.
The result was encouraging for SpaceX executives, although the mission missed a number of goals. For starters, SpaceX expected that the Starship would travel at least 90 miles (150 km) into orbit before returning to Earth’s atmosphere and falling into the Pacific Ocean close to Hawaii.
What happened during the flight?
Unfortunately, the Starship “experienced multiple engines out” during its launch. It then “lost altitude and began to tumble” before the “flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and the ship,” according to SpaceX. The rocket’s self-destructing system purposefully destroyed it, causing it to explode and crash into the water.
The launch only lasted four minutes instead of the planned 1 1/2-hour flight around the world, per AP News.
Before veering off course and falling, the rocket traveled at a top speed of around 1,300 mph (2,100 kph) and as high as 24 miles (39 kilometers).
Massive crowds of spectators watched from South Padre Island, many miles distant from the Boca Chica Beach launch site, which was off-limits. The crowd chanted, “Go, baby, go!” as Starship blasted off with a thundering roar.
CEO Elon Musk expressed his thoughts about the launch, congratulating the SpaceX team.
“Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!
Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.”
CEO Elon Musk
50-50 odds
According to Musk, the Starship had a 50/50 chance of making it to orbit and avoiding what SpaceX refers to as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” in the weeks before launch. In February, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell also stated at a conference that “the real goal is to not blow up the launch pad.”
Despite the test flight falling short of a number of objectives, NASA chief Bill Nelson praised SpaceX on Twitter.
“Every great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of calculated risk, because with great risk comes great reward.”
NASA chief Bill Nelson
