SpaceX managed to get its Starship spacecraft off the launch pad, but it later exploded. Did CEO Elon Musk rush ahead to have the attempt be on 4/20?
SpaceX managed to get its Starship spacecraft, the most powerful rocket ever built, off the launchpad at its South Texas testing facilities.
But getting it into orbit proved to be far more difficult, with the 400-foot rocket and booster stack tumbling hopelessly through the air minutes after launch, before ending in a massive fireball.
Starship didn’t separate as planned, started tumbling and was lost at 4mins after liftoff. Not yet clear if explosion was a manual termination command, since the rocket was showing signs of failure pic.twitter.com/OFtvNIs6Rj
Joey Roulette (@joroulette) April 20, 2023
While that kind of early demise should be expected from SpaceX, a company that has blown up countless prototypes over the last couple of years, it’s hard not to ignore the very particular date that it chose for Starship’s first orbital attempt.
That’s right: it was April 20, a date imbued with meaning for CEO Elon Musk. As such, it’s hard not to wonder whether the mercurial leader pushed SpaceX to launch the rocket on a meme date before it was fully ready? Did his childish obsession with the date lead to the explosion?
It’s pure speculation, but not terribly far-fetched.
