SpaceX's Powerful Rocket Starship Bursts into Air During Mid-Flight, Elon Takes it as a Lesson!

SpaceX inventors faced a major blow after their giant 'Starship' exploded within a few minutes as it took off today. This vehicle's first flight test was held today April 20, 2023, planned at 9:28 am EDT (1328 GMT). 

This uncrewed spacecraft flew from the Starbase facility of Elon-owned SpaceX located in Boca Chica, Texas. While it was the 119m (390 feet) tall vehicle ever-built in history, however, it sadly resulted in 'rapid unscheduled disassembly'. 

Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!

Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023

The developers of this behemoth were hopeful that this will be the first step of human exploration towards the Red Planet Mars. Earlier, the launch was rejected due to some problems with atmospheric pressure. 

Reasons for Rocket Failure

On Thursday, it began at full speed but then suddenly revolved at an altitude just before the explosion which was estimated about 4 minutes after leaving the ground.

pic.twitter.com/vX3M7B3J1G

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023

Apparently, the two sections of the rocket system namely the booster and cruise vessel cracked off. These parts were unable to separate themselves properly after the launch which possibly led to a blast in the sky. 

Elon Musk Ends on a Positive Note

Industrialist Elon Musk who is the founder of SpaceX and current CEO of Twitter tweeted that this was just a test and no need to panic as another launch will be organised in the near future. He further congratulated the whole team of spacecraft developers and concluded this explosion event as a learning experience. 

My Autotrack software captures the moment that Starship lost control. Excitement was very much guaranteed. Great first attempt by the SpaceX team!

Tune in to hear our live reaction! @NASASpaceflight https://t.co/uutBwWSABz pic.twitter.com/in201JaOiU

— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) April 20, 2023

The American manufacturer SpaceX had warned before its launch about the low chances of success. The objective of this flight test was only to collect efficient data, regardless of the accomplishment of the mission or not. 

Employees Celebrated Failure!

The Starship journey seemed a disheartening event still the agency cheered up and stayed positive. SpaceX stated that Starship went through a rapid unscheduled disassembly that happened just before the stage separation. However, nobody was harmed as no one boarded the spaceship. 

This sub-orbital test marked the first all-inclusive trial in which the Starship cruise vessel, made to carry as many as 100 astronauts was placed on top of the Super Heavy booster rocket. It had 33 Raptor engines that provided the extreme push or force needed to move ahead.

Acceptance from U.S. Transportation Agency

As the Starship tripped down during the massive inaugural flight, SpaceX said that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will look into the matter and will investigate the mission. FAA revealed in a statement that before stage separation, the vehicle lost control however no other damages related to public property or personal harm have been reported. 

This was just an accidental event that happened over the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft was 10 meters taller than Saturn V which approximately comprises over 3 passenger jets. Saturn V NASA's retired vehicle that was operated with liquid fuel and successfully launched humans to the Moon back in 1969. 

Last week, Elon Musk received an approval letter from the FAA to pursue the launch program. Musk finds it monetarily cheaper to recycle the rockets as space flight can be carried forward at a lower cost than what NASA does. 

Aims to Occupy Mars

NASA has its own risk management plans and it does not attempt trials like SpaceX. SpaceX, which has the ownership of Elon, has a history of flight explosions. Various spaceships are already being arranged to come up for future tests.

Musk asserted that Starship was earlier named the BFR which means Big Fucking Rocket. His main aim is to send humans into space so that they emerge as an interplanetary species. Hence, his plan is to colonize Mars, human species requires to be protected and saved for big future events. He needs to ensure that no nuclear or asteroid abolishes life on Earth.

Also, his agency says that it holds a payload capacity of nearly 150 tons. With this, a bunch of people can be transferred on long-haul space journeys. For this year, he has a project lined up for 11 people trip orbiting the moon.

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