Starship, the name for the fully integrated system of the Starship spacecraft and reusable launch vehicle Super Heavy, exploded during its first orbital flight test on Thursday, April 20, 2023. Starship, designed and manufactured by SpaceX, is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.
On Thursday, SpaceX launched Starship from Starbase in Texas as part of the first orbital flight test of the rocket. Starship took off into space at 8:33 am CT (7:03 pm IST) on Thursday. A few minutes after launch, Starship exploded.
According to SpaceX, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation.
SpaceX also said in a mission update that teams will continue to review data and work toward their next flight test of Starship.
Emphasising on its aim to make life multi-planetary, the aerospace firm stated that "success comes from what we learn", and that today's test will help SpaceX improve the reliability of Starship.
SpaceX also congratulated the Starship team for the first integrated flight test of the world's largest rocket.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated the Starship team for the first test launch of the rocket. He also said that they have learnt a lot for the next text launch, which will be attempted in a few months.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said on Twitter that every great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of "calculated risk", because with great risk comes great reward.
The Starship system represents a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.