SpaceX launches giant new rocket on 1st test flight
SpaceX's new rocket, the biggest and most powerful ever built, blasted off Thursday on its first test flight, thundering into the South Texas sky in an attempt to orbit the world.
Elon Musk's company launched the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. The plan called for the booster to peel away and plummet into the Gulf of Mexico shortly after liftoff, with the spacecraft hurtling ever higher toward the east in a bid to circle the world, before crashing into the Pacific near Hawaii.
No people or satellites were aboard for this debut launch.
Throngs of spectators watched from several miles away from the Boca Chica Beach launch site, which was off-limits.
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.
It was the second launch attempt. Monday's try was scrapped by a frozen booster valve.
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Live updates: SpaceX's Starship explodes on launch attempt
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[It is now 3:43 PM GMT, Thursday, 20 April 2023.]
AP story on US's PBS website:
"The plan called for the booster to peel away from the spacecraft minutes after liftoff, but that didn’t happen. The rocket began to tumble and then exploded four minutes into the flight, plummeting into the gulf."
Usually, such an explosion is deliberate since the failure of separation of booster leaves the projectile out of control.