The SpaceX Starship spacecraft exploded in a ball of fire a few minutes after launching on its rescheduled first test flight Thursday morning.
Videos shared by Shawna Ellis show spectators gathered Monday morning on South Padre Island in Texas, which has a clear view of SpaceXs Starbase spaceport at Boca Chica. The crowds cheer when the Starship lifts off, seemingly successfully. “Still going,” a voice can be heard saying moments before a burst of flame. The recording stopped just before the explosion, Ellis said.
“As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation,” SpaceX tweeted after the explosion.
The first test flight for the Starship spacecraft was scrubbed Monday morning and transitioned to a “wet dress rehearsal” due to an issue with the first-stage pressurization system. Once the decision was made to cancel the launch, the countdown continued in all other respects, including the loading of propellant, guidance checks, engine checks and other launch tasks.
The Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket together stand 394 feet tall on the launchpad. According to SpaceX, Starship is designed to be “a fully reusable transportation system” that can carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon, and eventually Mars.
The Super Heavy rocket has previously undergone static fire tests, and the Starship spacecraft has successfully completed sub-orbital flight tests. The flight tests demonstrated the spacecrafts ability to “fly through the subsonic phase of entry before re-lighting its engines and flipping itself to a vertical configuration for landing,” the company said.
SpaceX built a launch and catch tower nearly 500 feet tall to launch and catch the Super Heavy rocket booster. Even if the first flight test had been a success, however, the company said there would be no attempt at a vertical landing of Starship or a catch of the Super Heavy booster.
“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and todays test will help us improve Starships reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary,” SpaceX tweeted.
