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Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the world’s most powerful rocket, its 400-foot-tall Starship, on a historic test flight Thursday morning — only for it to explode mid-air just minutes later.
The giant rocket – which officials say will one day be capable of bringing 100 people to Mars – lifted off from the launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas a few minutes after Thursday’s launch window opened at 8:28 a.m. local time (9:28 a.m. ET).
Footage of the launch showed that the rocket — which SpaceX hopes will take people to the moon as early as 2025 — failed to separate from its booster and began spinning before it blew up as it traveled more than 1,300 mph 18 miles above the earth.
No one was on board the 400-foot-long rocket during the doomed launch – which was set to send the vessel orbiting around the world before crashing into the ocean near Hawaii.
Despite the explosion, the test run drew cheers from the control center and onlookers on the ground after the ship made it off the launchpad and into the atmosphere.
The launch represented a major step toward SpaceX’s goal of sending humans back to the moon and eventually to Mars.
Musk congratulated his team on an “exciting” test flight, noting that they had learned a lot for the next attempt in a few months.
“Starship just experienced what we call a rapid, unscheduled disassembly,” a launch commentator said.
“As we promised, excitement is guaranteed. Starship gave us a rather spectacular end to what was truly an incredible test.”
Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket launch
What was launched?
On Thursday, April 20, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the world’s most powerful rocket, its 400-foot-tall Starship.
What happened?
The rocket failed to separate from its booster and began spinning before it blew up as it traveled more than 1,300 mph 18 miles above the earth.
How did Musk react?
Despite the explosion, Elon Musk touted his company’s launch. “Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!,” Musk tweeted following the launch. “Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.”
How much did it cost?
Musk has predicted in the past that launch costs could one day sink from around $10 million to as little as $1 million. Musk has previously said Starships required $900,000 worth of fuel to launch.
SpaceX tweeted that during the flight test, “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation,” but did not elaborate further.
The company promptly got roasted for its overly verbose description.
“SpaceX is calling it ‘a rapid unscheduled disassembly’. In my day, we called it an explosion,” one person tweeted with footage of the fireball.
Others pointed out that the rocket’s failure coincided with the start Thursday of the removal of Twitter’s blue verification check. Musk now requires users to pay $8 a month to maintain their coveted “verified” status as part of the Twitter Blue subscription service.
“I think my Twitter blue check was aboard Elon’s SpaceX rocket this morning,” one user cracked.
Seven prototypes of the spacecraft have been previously launched, but Thursday marked the inaugural voyage of its first-stage booster with 33 methane-fueled engines.
NASA is partnering with Starship on a $2.9 billion contract for an uncrewed test touchdown on the Moon to prepare ahead of planned 2025 and 2027 lunar landings, which would mark man’s first return to the celestial body since 1972.
Once the kinks are worked out, the stainless steel rocket is designed to be reusable, which would dramatically lower costs for both NASA and space tourism flights.
Musk has predicted in the past that launch costs could one day sink from around $10 million to as little as $1 million.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request from The Post of the value of the rocket that exploded, and the company has not publicly released the information.
The company sells its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches for $62 million and $90 million respectively, far cheaper than the $4 billion launch cost of NASA’s latest giant rocket.
Musk has previously said Starships required $900,000 worth of fuel to launch.
With Post wires
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