The Starship flight 8 explosion marks the second failure for Elon Musk’s Mars programme
The world’s biggest rocket exploded 10 minutes into its latest test flight after the spacecraft fell into an ‘out-of-control’ spin.
The SpaceX rocket stands at 123 metres (403 feet) tall and is the most powerful rocket ever to fly. The spacecraft, called Starship, was embarking on its eighth test flight, just months after a previous failed launch attempt.
The rocket blasted off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, at 6.30pm eastern time (12.30am UK time). The flight was only supposed to last an hour, but SpaceX said the rocket experienced a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ and lost contact with the ground.
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly” during the ascent engine firing.
“Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,” the company said in a statement posted online.
SpaceX, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, is aiming for Mars with Starship. NASA has booked the rocket to land its astronauts on the Moon later this decade.
Starship was meant to re-enter Earth’s orbit just an hour after its launch, but engines on the spacecraft began to shut down as it reached nearly 90 miles in altitude streaked towards re-entry above the Indian Ocean. SpaceX said contact was lost, and the spacecraft fell into an out of control spin.
However, its Super Heavy booster, which helps it leave the ground, did manage successfully to return to the launchpad.
No injuries or major damage have been reported, but flights were grounded at some Florida airports as a result of debris. Operations are now running normally.
Just last month, debris from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which helped take Firefly’s Blue Ghost to the Moon, ‘lit up’ the sky in Greater Manchester as a mysterious fireball passed overhead, the UK Space Agency confirmed.
During Starship’s seventh test flight in January, SpaceX similarly lost communication with the spacecraft’s upper stage after about eight minutes. The rocket blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic.
According to an ongoing investigation, leaking fuel triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecraft’s engines and the on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.
