Grace Ashiru
SpaceX, an aerospace business started by Elon Musk, tested-launched its Starship rocket for the first time today. It is the most giant and powerful rocket ever built, and it was made to carry cargo and people from Earth to Mars.
The rocket reached a top speed of over 2,000 km/h and a top height of 39 km. About four minutes into the flight, the rocket exploded in flames and didn’t reach its target. The company said that the Mars-bound Starship meant to lift off into space had a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” while it was in the air. There was no crew on board.
Monday was the first time the company tried to get this launch off the ground, but it had to be put off because of a “pressure issue.” Since then, the company’s teams have worked to fix several unknown problems so that a second try can happen today, Thursday.
Even though the launch went wrong, the liftoff is still a big deal for SpaceX. The company has constantly said that the launch was an experiment and that if Starship got off the launchpad, it would be a success no matter what.
With this kind of test, success depends on what we learn, and today’s test will help us make Starship more reliable as SpaceX works to make life possible on more than one planet, the company said in a tweet on Thursday.
In a tweet, Musk praised the SpaceX team and suggested that the next test launch would happen in a few months.
