Starship reaches orbit, but booster explodes in the Gulf of Mexico

Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, reached Earth orbit during its 15th test flight. However, the mission also encountered a setback.

The 124-meter-long rocket launched from the spaceport in southern Texas. A few minutes after liftoff, a technical problem led SpaceX to cancel its attempt to recover the Super Heavy booster.

The booster was not caught by the launch platform’s mechanical arms and instead fell into the Gulf of Mexico. A large fireball was seen as it fell. SpaceX said the cause of the failed recovery has not yet been determined.

Meanwhile, the Starship spacecraft successfully entered orbit. According to plan, it will make 14 revolutions around Earth and return on Saturday. On this flight, the spacecraft also deployed 26 satellites for the Starlink network.

SpaceX aims to build a fully reusable rocket system to significantly reduce the cost of space travel. NASA plans to use Starship to send astronauts to the Moon as part of the Artemis program, while Elon Musk hopes that one day the spacecraft will also transport people to Mars.

The next difficult step is bringing Starship back and catching it at the launch platform. This maneuver presents a major challenge because of the speed and extreme temperatures involved during atmospheric reentry.