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.
As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 20, 2023
SpaceX also said in a mission update that teams will continue to review data and work toward their next flight test of Starship.
Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 20, 2023
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.
With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 20, 2023
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.
Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!
Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
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.
Congrats to @SpaceX on Starship’s first integrated flight test! Every great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of calculated risk, because with great risk comes great reward. Looking forward to all that SpaceX learns, to the next flight test—and beyond. https://t.co/ZYsh5VkxsA
— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) April 20, 2023
The Starship system represents a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.