Watch: SpaceX Starship explodes in space, minutes after its launch

Minutes after it was launched from Texas, SpaceX lost control of the spacecraft, with engines cut off, causing it to veer off course before disintegrating in the upper atmosphere

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Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX faced another setback as its Starship spacecraft exploded in space on Thursday (local time).

 

  Minutes after it was launched from Texas, SpaceX lost control of the spacecraft, with engines cut off, thereby forcing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to pause air traffic in parts of Florida. After the explosion, videos surfaced on social media and showed fiery debris ‘streaking through the dusk skies’ near South Florida and the Bahamas.

 

The agency had to issue ground stops at the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando airports because of the falling debris. 

 

Details of Starship launch 

The 403-ft rocket lifted off around 6:30 pm ET (2330 GMT) from SpaceX’s sprawling Boca Chica, Texas, rocket facilities. The Super Heavy first-stage booster flew back to Earth after it was grabbed mid-air by a crane.

 

According to the reports, the flight was expected to complete the satellite delivery that was left unfinished in January. 

 

Starship explosion: What led to the explosion

 

After take-off, the live stream on the SpaceX social media account showed the rocket's upper stage spinning in space, while a visualisation of the rocket's engines showed the shutting down of multiple engines. After which SpaceX said that it had lost contact with the spacecraft.

 

According to the reports, the failure of the Starship test comes nearly a month after the previous Starship test, which also met such a disastrous fate.

 

What is Starship’s mission? 

According to SpaceX’s website, “Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket – collectively referred to as Starship – represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.”

 

The height of the starship is 403 feet (123 meters) and its payload capacity is 100-150 tonnes.

 

What next for Starship 

Following the explosion, an investigation into this mishap has also been opened. The company also took to X to share an update and said, “During Starship’s ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses.” It further added that they will review the data from the flight test to understand the root cause.

 

[With agency inputs]