SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — SpaceX’s giant new rocket blasted off on its first test flight Thursday but failed minutes after rising from the launch pad. The most powerful rocket ever constructed is uncrewed.
"Starship just experienced what we call a rapid unplanned disassembly," an official said on the broadcast.
As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 20, 2023
Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. It carried no people or satellites; both the booster and spacecraft on top were to be ditched into the sea.
Thursday, the two-stage rocketship, standing taller than the Statue of Liberty at 394 feet (120 m) high, blasted off but stage separation failed.
None of the rocket will be recovered.
The company plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, eventually, Mars. NASA has reserved a Starship for its next moonwalking team, and rich tourists are already booking lunar flybys.
Space’s first try to launch the rocket was called off Monday because of a stuck valve in the rocket during fueling.
