SpaceX launched its Starship rocket Saturday morning, with the booster exploding and spacecraft apparently detonating during the second test flight.
SpaceX launched its Starship rocket Saturday morning for the deep-space vehicle’s second test flight, during which the booster exploded after separating and the spacecraft apparently detonated after reaching space.
SpaceX officials said the mega rocket — which is designed to bring NASA astronauts to the moon — successfully lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas, under the power of all 33 engines. The booster then successfully separated from the spacecraft before shortly experiencing what SpaceX called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” and exploding.
Starship’s engines continued to fire for several minutes on its way to space until SpaceX lost data from the second stage of the rocket, SpaceX officials said during a livestream. The spacecraft appears to have detonated, officials said.
“The automated flight termination system on second stage appears to have triggered very late in the burn as we were headed downrange out over the Gulf of Mexico,” aerospace engineer John Insprucker said during the livestream.
