One of the most anticipated rocket launches happened Thursday morning. Here are the details on the SpaceX Starship launch and what’s next.
What Happened: After being delayed previously, all systems were go for the launch of the Starship spacecraft from SpaceX, a company led by Elon Musk. A live webcast was available for people to watch.
The Starship successfully launched on its first flight at 9:33 am ET, five minutes after its launch window opened.
Starship is the largest spacecraft in the world, coming in at 393 feet, according to ABC.
“Starship Rocket has a Successful Launch. It is the largest and most powerful rocket to have ever achieved a successful lifted off!” SpaceX tweeted.
After the flight, the boosters failed to separate from the shuttle.
“Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation,” SpaceX tweeted.
SpaceX aborted the mission and blew up the rocket. The flight was originally scheduled to travel 150 miles and then splash down into the Pacific Ocean 90 minutes later.
The flight reached a peak altitude of 20 miles before it was blown up, according to Reuters.
Related Link: Elon Musk Says 'All Systems Green' As SpaceX Preps For Starship's 4/20 Launch: Will Second Time Be The Charm?
What’s Next: Starship is expected to play a big part in future space exploration and opportunities. The rocket is designed to carry 100 people on flights to space and planets like Mars.
“Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test,” SpaceX tweeted. “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary.”
SpaceX said the launch will provide data and information that can be used in future attempts.
“Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
Based on comments from SpaceX after the flight and during the live stream, the launch is considered a success, despite the boosters not separating.
The next launch will be highly anticipated and could play a large role in the future of space.
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