Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the Starship mega-rocket for the seventh time, lifting the 123-meter-tall reusable vehicle into the air from its Starbase in South Texas.. The spectacular launch ended with the equally spectacular return of the rocket's giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, back to the launch tower using special handles called "
However, the stunning success of the successful start of the launch was overshadowed by the explosion of the upper stage of Starship, which literally fell into pieces in the air 8 minutes after takeoff. SpaceX on its page on the X network called this failure “an early unscheduled disassembly,” and Musk announced an oxygen leak, writes AP.
" Teams will continue to review data from today's flight tests to better understand the root cause.. Today’s flight will help us improve the reliability of Starship,” SpaceX representatives noted in a message to X.
All six of Ship Raptor's engines fired up during the ascent, but as we neared the end of the ascent, we saw the engines cut out on telemetry, and we have since lost contact with the ship,"
"
He added that "
According to SpaceX's plan, the new upgraded model of the rocket would fly most of the way around the world, and then fall softly into the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia about 66 minutes after launch, as it did during the three previous Starship launches, Space writes.. com.
However, unlike previous launches, approximately 17.5 minutes after liftoff, the upper stage would deploy 10 simulation satellites similar in size and weight to the new version of SpaceX's Starlink broadband spacecraft..
However, Starship did not fly that far.
True, the rocket explosion created an incredible fireworks display of bright falling debris. \! "
Recall that the previous six test flights of Starship took place in 2023-2024. SpaceX has developed the largest and most powerful rocket ever built to help humanity settle the Moon and Mars.
As Musk's company plans to maximally improve Starship this year, we will see several more test flights of this powerful rocket in 2025, experts say.