SpaceX’s colossal Starship, designed to transport astronauts to the moon, Mars, or beyond, launched on Thursday morning but failed to achieve orbit. The stainless steel spacecraft, which sits atop the Super Heavy booster rocket, took off from the Boca Chica, Texas launch site in the United States.
Despite the setback, the successful lift-off marks a significant advancement in American space travel, with the rocket standing 120 meters (394 feet) tall, larger than New York City’s Statue of Liberty.
Stephen Clark from SpaceflightNow.com reported that at least five of the Starship’s 33 Raptor engines did not appear to ignite during lift-off. The rocket cleared the launch tower and ascended into the sky but failed to separate from the Super Heavy booster. The entire vessel spun before disintegrating in a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had estimated a 50% chance of the rocket reaching orbit in March. Following the launch, Musk congratulated the SpaceX team on Twitter and expressed eagerness to learn from the experience for the next test launch in a few months. A fire occurred at the launch site post-lift-off.
The Starship rocket, as designed, is nearly twice as powerful as NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which completed its debut uncrewed flight to orbit in November. NASA has also selected the Starship spacecraft to carry astronauts to the moon in late 2025 as part of the Artemis III mission, the first since the Apollo program ended in 1972.
SpaceX had previously scrapped a launch scheduled for Monday due to a pressurization issue in the lower-stage Super Heavy booster. Prototypes of the Starship cruise vessel have made five subspace flights up to 10 km (6 miles) above Earth in recent years. The Super Heavy booster had never left the ground, although SpaceX conducted a test-firing in February, igniting 31 of its 33 Raptor engines for about 10 seconds while the rocket was secured vertically atop a platform.
Musk acknowledged the risks associated with the launch, stating in a Twitter livestream message on Sunday, “It’s a very risky flight. It’s the first launch of a very complicated, gigantic rocket.”
