Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the world’s most powerful rocket, its 500-foot-tall Starship, on a historic test flight Thursday morning — only for it to explode mid-air just minutes later.
The giant rocket lifted off from the launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas a few minutes after Thursday’s launch window opened at 8:28 a.m. local time (9:28 a.m. ET).
Footage of the launch showed that the rocket — which is poised to take people to the moon as early as 2025 — failed to separate from its booster and began spinning before it blew up as it was 18 miles above the earth. It was traveling at a speed of more than 1,300 miles per hour.
Musk and other leaders had tempered expectations for the launch before blast off, saying that the event would be considered a success if the Starship was able to get off the launchpad.
The lift off of Elon Musk’s pet project came after a frozen valve in the mega-rocket postponed a Monday test launch.
Elon Musk’s Starship explodes midair during first integrated flight test
Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the world’s most powerful rocket, its 500-foot-tall Starship, on a historic test flight Thursday morning — only for it to explode mid-air just minutes …
