SpaceX’s Starship Rocket Test Ends in Failure
SpaceX conducted the second test of its new giant Starship rocket on Saturday, but unfortunately, it ended in failure. The booster carried the rocket into space, but communications were lost eight minutes after liftoff in south Texas, and SpaceX reported that the vehicle had failed.
The problem occurred when the ignition of the engines to place it in orbit around the world had almost finished. Minutes before, the booster exploded, which, however, had already fulfilled its mission of launching the ship into space. Despite the failure, the approximately eight-minute flight lasted twice as long as the April attempt.
“The brightest thing of the day, the successful liftoff,” emphasized SpaceX commentator John Insprucker. Added commentator Kate Tice: “We managed to get a lot of data, and that will help us improve for our next release.”
SpaceX founder Elon Musk watched from the control center, on the southern tip of Texas, near the border with Mexico, near Boca Chica Beach. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the takeoff on Wednesday, confirming that all safety and environmental protection measures were met.
The intention was to reach an altitude of 240 kilometers (150 miles), enough to send the craft in the shape of a bullet around the Earth to fall into the Pacific near Hawaii, an hour and a half after launch, without making a complete orbit.
Starship, nearly 400 feet (122 meters) long, is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. The first test flight in April lasted four minutes and the debris fell into the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, Musk’s company has made dozens of improvements to the booster, its 33 engines and the launch platform. Despite the setback, SpaceX remains committed to developing the Starship rocket and will continue to make improvements for future launches.