NEW YORK: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship rocket exploded and failed to reach orbit, moments after it was launched from South Texas on Thursday, New York Times reported.
Minutes after taking off from a launch pad in South Texas, the rocket appears to have exploded above the Gulf of Mexico. Although the spacecraft was unable to enter orbit, this failure was not fatal.
Elon Musk, the company’s founder, had tempered expectations prior to the launch stating that it might take several tries for Starship to be successful at this test flight, which was intended to reach speeds high enough to enter orbit before crashing down in the Pacific Ocean close to Hawaii.
Recently, the first launch of SpaceX’s Starship was called off at the last minute on Monday after a pressurisation issue arose in the first stage, reported news channel.
The scheduled launch of the most powerful rocket ever constructed has been scrubbed after engineers could not troubleshoot a pressurization issue with the massive Super Heavy booster in time.
Engineers tried to troubleshoot a pressurization issue with the massive Super Heavy booster. But they couldn’t quite figure it out in time, and today’s launch has been scrubbed, reported news channel.
The countdown clock had less than 10 minutes on it, with SpaceX engineer John Insprucker saying they would work to determine when they can make the next attempt.
SpaceX is letting the countdown clock run down a bit more and run through a bit of a rehearsal for what they will do on the next launch attempt. They do have a launch window reserved for Tuesday opening at 7 am CT (8 am ET), but recycling will force them to wait a bit longer at least 48 hours, reported CNN.
They will put the rocket through what’s called a “recycle” — taking out the super-chilled fuel and preparing for another attempt.
It was SpaceX’s first attempt to launch its Starship rocket after years of testing. CEO Elon Musk described Starship as the vehicle that underpins SpaceX’s founding purpose — sending humans to Mars for the first time. The inaugural flight test will complete nearly one full lap of the planet, ending with a splashdown off Hawaii.