Test-fired booster rocket bursts into flames at SpaceX plant
elon musk
Aboosterrocketdeveloped by Elon Musk'sSpaceXfor its next-generation Starship spacecraft burst intoflamesduring a ground-testfiring on Monday in Texas, dealing a likely setback to Musk's aim of launching Starship to orbit this year.
"Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage," Musk said on Twitter after the early evening explosion of the Super HeavyBooster7 prototype, as seen in a livestream recorded by the website NASA Spaceflight.
There was no immediate indication of injuries.
The explosion, which engulfed the base of therocketin a ball offlamesand heavy smoke and appeared to shake the video camera, was specific to the engine spin starttest, Musk said on Tuesday.
"Going forward, we won't do a spin starttestwith all 33 engines at once," he said on Twitter.
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Theboosterremained standing upright, bolted to atestgantry afterward.
Watch |SpaceX: Employees who wrote letter criticizing CEO Elon Musk fired
The failure came in the midst of a dayslong static firetestcampaign in Boca Chica, Texas, of thebooster, equipped with an array of 33 Raptor engines for use in an upcoming uncrewed orbitaltestflightSpaceXhoped to launch later this year.
SpaceX's complete Starship, which will stand 394 feet (120 meters) tall when mated with its super-heavy first-stagebooster, is the company's next-generation launch vehicle at the center of Musk's ambitions to make human space travel more affordable and routine.
SpaceXdid not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Monday's blast.
The USFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) also did not immediately respond when asked if it would investigate the explosion.
In late 2020 and early 2021,SpaceXlost four prototypes of the Starship itself in a series of high-altitudetestlaunches when the return landing attempts ended in explosions. The Starship prototype finally made a safe touchdown in May 2021.
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