SpaceX Starship launch failed minutes after reaching space
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 liftoff from South Texas before communication suddenly was lost. SpaceX officials said it appears 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.
Saturday’s demo lasted eight or so minutes, about twice as long as the first test in April, which also ended in an explosion. 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.
Following April’s flight demo, SpaceX made dozens of improvements to the rocket as well as the launch pad. The Federal Aviation Administration cleared the rocket for flight on Wednesday, after confirming that all safety and environmental concerns had been met.
After Saturday’s launch, the FAA said no injuries or public damage had been reported and that an investigation was underway to determine what went wrong. SpaceX cannot launch another Starship until the review is complete and corrections made, the FAA added.
NASA is counting on Starship to land astronauts on the moon by the end of 2025 or shortly thereafter. The space agency awarded SpaceX a $3 billion contract to make it happen, by transferring astronauts from its Orion capsule to Starship in lunar orbit before heading down to the surface.
“Today’s test is an opportunity to learn — then fly again,” noted NASA Administrator Bill Nelson via X, formerly known as Twitter.
Starship is 34 feet (10 meters) taller than NASA’s Saturn V rocket which carried men to the moon more than a half-century ago, and 75 feet (23 meters) taller than NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that flew around the moon and back, without a crew, last year. And it’s got approximately double the liftoff thrust.
Like before, nothing of value was aboard Starship for the trial run.
Once Starship is proven, Musk plans to use the fully reusable mega rockets to launch satellites into orbit around Earth and equipment and people to the moon, and eventually, to Mars.
AP
Photo by Reuters
