SpaceX Rocket Explodes in New Setback to Elon Musk’s Mars Project
upstart writes:
Starship 36 was preparing for 10th test flight from Texas when it underwent 'catastrophic failure' while on stand
[...] SpaceX said the rocket was preparing for the 10th flight test when it "experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase", without elaborating on the nature of the complication.
[...] The Starship explosion occurred during a "routine static fire test", according to the Cameron County authorities.
During a static fire, part of the procedures preceding a launch, the Starship's Super Heavy booster would be anchored to the ground to prevent it from lifting off during the test firing.
[...] At 123 metres high (403ft), Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket and central to Musk's long-term vision of colonising Mars.
The Starship is billed as a fully reusable rocket with a payload capacity of up to 150 metric tonnes.
[...] The previous two outings also ended poorly, with the upper stage disintegrating over the Caribbean.
The failures will probably do little to dent Musk's space ambitions.
SpaceX has been betting that its "fail fast, learn fast" ethos, which has helped it dominate commercial spaceflight, will eventually pay off.
The company has caught the Super Heavy booster in the launch tower's giant robotic arms three times - a daring engineering feat it sees as being key to rapid reusability and slashing costs.
Nasa is increasingly relying on SpaceX, whose Dragon spacecraft is used to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
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