SpaceX’s Starship rocket explodes a few minutes after taking off
Starship rocket of Elon Musk’s space transportation company SpaceX, explodes about 2.5 minutes after takeoff
The 90-minute-long test flight of the spacecraft Starship, developed by the U.S. space transportation company SpaceX, in the state of Texas, ended in failure. The unmanned spacecraft Starship exploded 2.5 minutes after the launch at 7.30 a.m. local time. Following the test, a SpaceX engineer named John Insprucker said that they believe the explosion was caused by the automatic flight termination system’s delay in deactivating.
"We have lost the data from the second stage, we think we may have lost the second stage," SpaceX engineer and livestream host John Insprucker said. He added that engineers believe an automated flight termination command was triggered to destroy the rocket, though the reason was unclear.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration(FAA), responsible for monitoring commercial launch sites, verified an incident resulting in the loss of the vehicle. They mentioned no injuries or property damage have been noted.
The agency stated its intention to supervise an investigation led by SpaceX regarding the testing failure. Approval from the FAA will be necessary for SpaceX's plan to prevent a recurrence of the incident.
In SpaceX’s first launch attempt last April, the Starship rocket exploded within about 4 minutes due to a malfunction in the engines over the Gulf of Mexico and was intensely criticized due to the debris that fell on the gulf.
Source: Ihlas News Agency
