After an explosive ascension, the historic test flight for Elon Musk’s $3 billion (£2.4 billion) Starship program has concluded.
Engineers deemed the Starship launch ‘amazing’ despite its ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ – a fancy term for an explosion – following its anxiously anticipated launch from Boca Chica in Texas.
The super heavy-lift system was launched at approximately 9:30 a.m. ET (2:29 p.m. BST) with 33 engines propelling the five-million-pound structure into the air.
However, after only three minutes, the missile exploded because its two halves were unable to separate as intended.
Therefore, why did SpaceX’s Starship explode, and was the mission still successful? MailOnline takes a peek.
The Starship launched today at approximately 9:30 a.m. ET (2:29 p.m. BST) from Texas’ Boca Chica.
It followed a Monday launch attempt that was aborted due to a frozen rocket valve.
Today’s launch was scheduled to be the first full test flight of the Starship’s Super Heavy Booster system.
SpaceX intended for the launch to last approximately one hour and thirty minutes, with evaluations of the rocket’s separation system, engine ignition, and splashdown.
However, some of its components could not be verified, resulting in the Starship exploding three minutes later at a height of approximately 25 miles above the Earth.
Nevertheless, SpaceX engineers assert that they were able to acquire useful information for future missions.
This surpasses Musk’s grand ambitions to send his Starship to the moon and beyond, as its reusable launch system arrives before them.
