SpaceX’s Starship exploded for the second time on Saturday. While Starship achieved its main goal, this isn’t the first time a Starship launch has ended in flames.
SpaceX’s Starship rocket — which is supposed to realize Elon Musk’s dream of building a human settlement on Mars — exploded yet again on Saturday.
The explosion, or rapid unscheduled disassembly, as they like to call it, came during the second test of the Starship and its attached Super Heavy booster. The first test, seven months ago, also ended badly.
But while on Saturday the ship exploded, the test could otherwise be considered a success. The ship climbed higher than before, detaching successfully from its Super Heavy Booster for the first time, reaching within seconds of entering orbit before it combusted.
In the first launch, the ship’s booster did not detach, causing it to plummet back to the Earth and explode in a fireball about three minutes after liftoff.
« What we do believe right now is that the automated flight termination system on second stage appears to have triggered very late in the [engine] burn as we were headed downrange out over the Gulf of Mexico, » SpaceX engineer John Insprucker said as the livestream concluded on Saturday.
