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.