SpaceX Starship Test Flight Deemed A Success Despite Explosion
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The SpaceX Starship's debut flight launch on April 20, 2023, was both flawless and spectacular. The 394-foot-tall (120-meter) rocket — the biggest and most powerful ever built — fired up its 33 engines and soared into the skies at 9:33 a.m. EDT. The uncrewed spacecraft was expected to complete a 90-minute trip around the Earth before splashing down near Hawaii.
But just three minutes after leaving the ground, the massive rocket began to spin. Soon after, it exploded into a ball of fire. It was later revealed that the spacecraft failed to separate from its booster after takeoff. This caused the entire stack to tumble.
Despite the fiery crash, SpaceX considered the mission a success. Lifting the massive rocket off the launch pad was a big step forward in their goal of shuttling passengers to outer space one day.
"From a milestone standpoint, our main goal is to clear the pad, (meaning ascend past the 500-foot launch tower without a failure)," said SpaceX engineering manager Kate Tice. "Every milestone beyond that is a bonus. The farther we fly, the more data we collect."
The company will now work with local officials to recover the rocket debris from the Gulf of Mexico. This will help them determine what went wrong and fix the issue. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk believes the team will be ready to conduct another test flight within a few months.
The Starship spacecraft and its massive rocket, Super Heavy, have been in development since 2012. If successful, the reusable transportation system will take humans to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Resources: Livescience.com, NPR.org, Space.com, guardian.com
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69 Comments
- phoenixpacioccoabout 1 monthwow
galaxy_dragon10 monthsI agree that its a success
hayleigh0409about 1 yearNo it is a success because lifting a heavy rocket it is a huge accomplishment. Now they recover the debris and then fix what they did wrong so now they can do it again and it might be a accomplishment.
oluluabout 1 yearHow much did that thing cost? I wouldn't consider only lifting it up a success, I'd want it out of the atmosphere, or else! Good thing no one was in there.
borboax0about 1 yearcool im getting alot of comments aboat how it was a fail but in fact it wwas not it past a milestone of spaceX and will continu doing so- iheartbasketbalover 1 yearHow is it a sucsess? It probaly costed over a billion dollars.
idk2323over 1 yearwow!
aaravenaover 1 yearI'm glad I'm not in that- walusizabiriover 1 yearKaboom. I watched it after.
etzietziover 1 yearThis is so bad!!!! How did it explode!?!?