SpaceX Starship lifts off in Texas, explodes on first test launch
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This follows after the original launch was postponed due to a pressurization issue in the first-stage booster, mere minutes before takeoff.
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SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft lifts off from the launchpad on a brief uncrewed test flight near Brownsville, Texas, US on April 20, 2023 (Reuters)
SpaceX's Starship exploded as it conducted its first test launch on Thursday after its Super Heavy rocket system successfully left the launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
The 400-foot tall rocket is said by SpaceX to be the most powerful ever built with the capability of reaching the Moon and Mars, carrying loads, alongside being designed to be reusable in all stages.
This follows after the original launch was postponed due to a pressurization issue in the first-stage booster, mere minutes before takeoff.
They've lost it, going for a spin, but hey, got away from the pad and had some great first stage!https://t.co/npUj2AHByW pic.twitter.com/KbvlbhjYR9
— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) April 20, 2023
The private space company resumed with the countdown in what it called a "wet dress rehearsal," stopping the clock with 10 seconds to go, just before the massive engines on the booster were to have been ignited.
Read next: SpaceX to make second bid to launch Starship
Commenting on the unsuccessful test flight, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said a frozen pressure valve forced a scrub of the launch, which had been planned for 8:20 am Central Time (13:20 GMT) from Starbase, the SpaceX spaceport in Texas.
Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK
However, even before launching on Thursday morning, the whole system suffered a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" before stage separation. In its statement, SpaceX said: "Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation." SpaceX added that its teams will continue to review data and work toward the next flight test.
To the moon and beyond?
SpaceX held a successful test-firing of the 33 Raptor engines on the first-stage booster of Starship back in February. During the test-firing, also known as a static fire, the rocket was attached to the ground to stop it from taking off.
In November 2024, NASA will send astronauts to the moon on its own, using the Space Launch System (SLS), a hefty rocket that has been in development for more than ten years that has more than twice as much thrust as the Saturn V rockets used to launch the Apollo astronauts to the Moon, and produces 17 million pounds of thrust.
Musk said he wanted to "set expectations low" because "probably tomorrow will not be successful -- if by successful one means reaching orbit."
For the first time since the Apollo program ended in 1972, the US space agency NASA has chosen the Starship spacecraft to carry men to the Moon in late 2025. This mission is known as Artemis III.
