SpaceX Starship explodes over the Caribbean, causing a spectacular light show – National

SpaceX has launched its seventh test flight A starship rocket on Thursday, but the spacecraft was destroyed after the booster re-engaged on the platform.

Elon MuskThe company said the Starship broke up, calling it a “rapid unplanned dismantling.” The rocket appeared to take off from of SpaceX launch pad at its Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, but eight and a half minutes into the mission, ground control announced that it had lost all communications with the ship.

Flights near the Turks and Caicos Islands were seen swerving to avoid debris from Thursday’s explosion, and footage of debris falling from the sky into the area was shared.

Musk shared a video falling debris, writing: “Success is uncertain, but fun is guaranteed!”

The Federal Aviation Administration announced a brief slowdown in flights in and around the Florida area due to possible falling debris from the launch.

The spacecraft was to fly across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near-loop around the world, similar to previous tests. SpaceX packed the new and upgraded model with 10 mock satellites to practice launching them.

A minute before the loss, SpaceX used the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms to grab the returning booster, a feat that had only been accomplished once before. The descending super heavy first stage booster hovered above the launch pad before being caught by a pair of robotic arms, called chopsticks.

There were no astronauts in the test flight mission, and the last data received from the spacecraft show an altitude of 146 kilometers and a speed of 13,245 km/h.

“Preliminary indications are that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship’s engine firewall that was large enough to create a pressure greater than the wind capacity,” Musk wrote on X hours after Flight 7’s launch. we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase the hatch area. There is nothing so far to indicate that the next launch will be delayed beyond next month.”

It was the seventh test flight of the largest and most powerful rocket in the world. The mission marked a second time that SpaceX was able to return and capture the stage booster using the launch tower.

NASA has reserved a pair of Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade, while Musk’s ultimate goal is Mars.

It also plans to launch actual Starlinks on Starships before moving on to other satellites and, eventually, crews.

— With files from the Associated Press

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