World’s most powerful rocket dramatically explodes seconds after launch

The second attempt at launching the SpaceX rocket saw it get off the ground - then explode. However, Elon Musk will be thrilled.

Elon Musk's latest Starship launch ended in flames. Pictures: AFP

The most powerful rocket ever built was successfully launched today, before dramatically exploding due to a technical hitch.

Elon Musk, the founder of the company behind the rocket, SpaceX, had previously given the launch a 50/50 chance of success.

Mr Musk only wanted the rocket to get off the ground and not destroy the pad – two markers which SpaceX can successfully tick off, The Sun reports.

The SpaceX Starship lifts off from the launch pad during a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, 2023. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

The Starship capsule had been scheduled to separate from the first-stage rocket booster three minutes into the flight but separation failed to occur and the rocket blew up. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

But an “unscheduled disassembly” saw the rocket explode before landing in the Mexican Gulf, according to SpaceX’s current diagnosis.

“Congrats SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!,” Mr Musk wrote on Twitter soon after.

“Learned a lot for next test launch 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

The debut orbital launch of the $4.4 billion next-generation spacecraft took place at the SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

Over one million people tuned into SpaceX’s lifestream of the test launch.

The 33-engine, nearly 123 metre tall, rocket is the eccentric billionaire’s biggest feat yet.

Starship has been designed to be the vehicle that makes humans interplanetary.

It is expected to take humans to the Moon through Nasa’s Artemis mission in 2025, and eventually to Mars sometime in the 2030s.

The SpaceX Starship on its short flight. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

The mega-rocket is designed to transport up to 100 people from Earth to the Moon and Mars, so will eventually have its interior kitted out to support humans on months-long space voyages.

The team didn’t bother decking out the interior as it would be on a Moon or Mars mission, as this edition of Starship was never intended to survive.

This still image taken from a SpaceX video shows the SpaceX Starship exploding after launch. (Photo by Handout / SPACEX / AFP)

SpaceX and the US’ aerospace regulator the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) agreed on a splash down in the Mexican Gulf ocean with no recovery.

All boaters were banned from the waters below prior to the launch, to make room for the rocket’s so-called “belly flop” into the sea.

Today’s launch follows a failed attempt on Monday, which was due to a pressurisation issue, according to SpaceX at the time.

When Starship was scheduled to launch on Monday, the coastguard was forced to remove a boat from the water.

Spectators watch from South Padre Island, Texas, as the SpaceX Starship launches for a flight test. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP)

It is possible they would have received a hefty fine, or even had their boating licence revoked.

All rocket launches in the US are bound by environmental standards set by the FAA, which had previously stood in the way of the 33-engine rocket’s flight approval.

Instead of being recovered like it would be in future missions, what’s left of Starship will join its predecessors at the bottom of the pacific, where old rocket parts now act as artificial coral reefs for marine life.

However, it is likely most of the rocket burned up in the atmosphere.

This story appeared in Teh Sun and is reproduced with permission.