SpaceX’s Starship, most powerful rocket, explodes mid-flight | Watch
1 min read . Updated: 20 Apr 2023, 10:17 PM IST
PremiumSpaceX’s massive Starship rocket appeared to explode in the sky several minutes after lifting off from its facility in Texas.
Minutes after the SpaceX’s giant new rocket took off from the launchpad on 20 April, it was exploded on its first test flight, while crashing into the Gulf of Mexico.
Through the rocket, SpaceX's founder Elon Musk was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas. The rocket carried no people or satellites, reported AP.
According to the plan, the booster was to peel away from the spacecraft minutes after liftoff, however that didn't happen. This resulted in the rocket tumbling and then it exploded four minutes into the flight, plummeting into the gulf.
Also, post separating the spacecraft was supposed to continue east and attempt to circle the world, ahead of it crashing into the Pacific near Hawaii.
From the South Padre Island, several miles away from the Boca Chica Beach launch site, spectators watched the rocket launch and as it lifted off, the crowd screamed: “Go, baby, go!"
In recent days, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk warned that the rocket may not successfully reach space.
In its plans, SpaceX is mulling to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, eventually, Mars. NASA has reserved a Starship for its next moonwalking team, and rich tourists are already booking lunar flybys.
It was the second launch attempt. Monday’s try was scrapped by a frozen booster valve.
SpaceX claims at 394 feet and nearly 17 million pounds of thrust, Starship easily surpasses NASA’s moon rockets. Apart from this, the firm claims that the stainless steel rocket is designed to be fully reusable with fast turnaround, dramatically lowering costs, similar to what SpaceX’s smaller Falcon rockets have done soaring from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Nothing was to be saved from the test flight.
The futuristic spacecraft flew several miles into the air during testing a few years ago, landing successfully only once. But this was to be the inaugural launch of the first-stage booster with 33 methane-fueled engines.
With agency inputs.