Elon Musk’s SpaceX starship, the most powerful space rocket ever built, has blown up shortly after launch in Texas.
According to reports, there were tense scenes as the Elon Musk’s SpaceX starship launch was halted with two seconds to go, before it was given the final go-ahead minutes later.
It took off, but when the booster tried to separate, systems failed and it appears the flight’s termination system was triggered
Elon Musk congratulated his team on an exciting test launch – and said they would try again in a few months’ time.
The SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted after the uncrewed rocket Starship launched and then exploded midair a few minutes later.
He congratulated the company and said the team “learned a lot” in preparation for its next test launch, which he said will happen in a few months.
The rocket was initially due to launch on Monday, but it was halted with minutes to go because of a frozen valve
The rocket is being put to the test in the belief it could eventually usher in an era of interplanetary travel.
SpaceX’s Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, took off from a launch pad on the coast of South Texas on Thursday morning.
The uncrewed rocket exploded midair shortly after liftoff — but SpaceX is still celebrating the test.
“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary,” SpaceX said in a tweet.