An attempt by SpaceX to send its Starship system into space on Thursday ended on a sour note with the massive rocket exploding shortly after liftoff.
The mishap has now complicated Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk’s goal to send humans back to the moon and to deep-space destinations including Mars.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Thursday’s test was a vital one for Starship, the largest rocket ever built, and meant to show that the vehicle could reach space and complete a partial orbit of Earth.
The explosion occurred just under four minutes after Starship lifted off from the company’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas, early morning on Thursday.
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The rocket failed to separate from its Super Heavy booster, causing a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” according to SpaceX.
The company hasn’t released more information about what caused the mishap.
Shortly after the explosion, Musk tweeted that the next test launch would take place “in a few months.”
Starship was conceived to bring people — including NASA astronauts — and cargo such as satellites into Earth’s orbit and beyond.
The rocket is more powerful than any previous crewed spacecraft and taller than the Saturn V, which took humans to the moon. The launch vehicle system also had been designed to be fully reusable, which SpaceX promises will reduce costs.