SpaceX Starship explodes over the Caribbean and causes a spectacular light show – National

The SpaceX Starship rocket launched its seventh test flight on Thursday, but its wheels were destroyed by boosters hitting the pad.

Elon Musk’s company called Starship’s breakup an “immediate unscheduled breakup.” The rocket appeared to have lifted off from SpaceX’s launch pad at its Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, but eight and a half minutes into the mission, ground control announced that it had completely lost contact with the spacecraft.

Flights near the Turks and Caicos Islands were seen diverting to avoid debris from the explosion on Thursday, and footage of debris falling from the sky was shared locally.

Musk shared a video. “Success is not guaranteed, but fun is guaranteed!” He writes.

The Federal Aviation Administration has announced that flights in and around Florida will be temporarily suspended.

The spacecraft was to take off from Texas and circle the globe close to the Gulf of Mexico, similar to previous attempts. SpaceX planned the launch of the new and improved model with 10 dummy satellites.

One minute before liftoff, SpaceX used the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms to grab the return booster just once. The unloaded superheavy first stage booster hovered over the launch pad before being grabbed by a pair of robotic arms named Chopsticks.

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There were no astronauts on the test flight mission and the last data from the spacecraft was an altitude of 146 kilometers and a speed of 13,245 kilometers per hour.

“This is the first indication that we have an oxygen/fuel leak in the space above the spacecraft’s engine firewall that is capable of pressurizing beyond the capacity of the wind,” Musk said a few hours after Flight 7’s launch. “In addition to obviously checking for leaks, we’re going to add fire suppression to that volume and maybe add a vent. There is no indication yet of pushing the next launch next month.

It was the seventh test flight for the world’s largest and most powerful rocket. The mission featured SpaceX returning and using the launch tower to hold the stage booster for a second time.

NASA has a pair of starships set to land astronauts on the moon later this decade, but Musk’s ultimate goal is Mars.

He plans to launch actual Starlinks on a starship before moving on to other satellites and eventually crews.

– with Associated Press files

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