Almost two months after an explosion dropped flaming debris on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another huge Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes after the test flight as the spacecraft disintegrated in an uncontrolled descent.
PUBLICIDAD
This time, the remnants of the most recent explosion could be seen streaking across the skies over Florida. It is currently unknown if the self-destruct system of the spacecraft was activated to make it explode.
PUBLICIDAD
How was the explosion of the SpaceX spacecraft?
The 123-meter (403-foot) rocket took off from Texas just before sunset. SpaceX recovered the first stage of the rocket on the platform with huge mechanical arms, but the engines of the spacecraft at the top started to shut down as it headed east in what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, halfway around the world. Contact was lost with the spacecraft as it spun out of control.
The spacecraft reached almost 150 kilometers (90 miles) in altitude before problems appeared or it could deploy its simulated satellites. At the moment, it is unknown where the debris fell, but images were posted on social media from Florida capturing the moment of the flaming debris falling, even near Cape Canaveral.
The flight had a scheduled duration of one hour.
“Unfortunately, this also happened last time, so now we have some practice,” said Dan Huot, SpaceX flight commentator, from the launch site.
SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced an “unplanned rapid disassembly” during the ascent engine firing. “Our team immediately began coordinating with safety officials to implement the pre-planned contingency responses,” the company said in a statement.
Starship did not reach the same altitude or distance as last time.
NASA has reserved Starship to take its astronauts to the moon by the end of this decade. The company’s president, Elon Musk, who has become Donald Trump’s right-hand man in the new United States government, aims to reach Mars with Starship, the world’s largest rocket.
Just like last time, Starship carried four simulated satellites to deploy once the spacecraft reached space on its eighth test flight for future missions. They were similar to SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which are currently orbiting the Earth.
The fins, computers, and fuel system of Starship were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: bringing the spacecraft back to the launch platform.
SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft after the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States (FAA), a federal agency over which Elon Musk now has influence, recently authorized a new Starship launch.
These rockets are launched from the southernmost tip of Texas, near the border with Mexico. SpaceX is currently building another Starship complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida, home to the company’s smaller Falcon rockets that transport astronauts and satellites to orbit.