AUSTIN – The SpaceX Starship rocket exploded minutes after it lifted off during a test flight from the launch site at Boca Chica, Texas, on Thursday.
The Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built and is designed to send astronauts to the moon, Mars or beyond, successfully lifted off from the orbital launch pad at 8:33 am CT, for the first time.
“The vehicle cleared the pad and beach as Starship climbed to an apogee of ~39 km over the Gulf of Mexico – the highest of any Starship to-date. The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble,” the Elon Musk owned company said in a statement.
“The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship. As is standard procedure, the pad and surrounding area was cleared well in advance of the test, and we expect the road and beach near the pad to remain closed until tomorrow.”
Musk, in a tweet, termed it “an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.” SpaceX termed it a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
In the weeks leading up to the flight, Musk gave 50-50 odds that the spacecraft would reach orbit.
NASA, SpaceX launch astronauts to orbit from America in historic test flight
