SpaceX acknowledged that several of the Super Heavy's 33 powerful Raport engines malfunctioned on ascent and that the booster rocket and Starship failed to separate as designed before the ill-fated flight was terminated.Īn out-of-control rocket full of highly flammable fuel is a very dangerous object, so to prevent any harm, SpaceX engineers triggered the self-destruct mechanism and blew up the entire rocket over the Gulf of Mexico.Īll modern rockets have mechanisms built into them that allow engineers to safely destroy the rocket in flight if need be. Once Super Heavy’s job is done, it is supposed to separate from the rest of the craft and land safely back on the surface to be used again.Īt that point the second stage, called the Starship spacecraft, is supposed to ignite its own engines to carry the payload – whether people, satellites or anything else – into orbit.Ĭould the Starship explosion have been intentional?

The first stage is designed to get the rocket to about 40 miles (65 kilometres) above Earth. The first stage, called Super Heavy, is a collection of 33 individual engines and provides more than twice the thrust of a Saturn V, the rocket that sent astronauts to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s. Starship is almost 400 feet (120 metres) tall and weighs 11 million pounds (4.9 million kilograms).

Next up, Booster 9! /KRxBwsLlKq- Chris Bergin - NSF April 20, 2023Įlon Musk headed SpaceX's Starship is made of two different stages, or sections.

Launch site is fine and got a lot of first stage data! Well done Booster 7 (and Ship 24)! That was still a big win.

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