SpaceX Starship from a rocket caught by Mechazilla exploded after being driven

On Sunday, the world witnessed an amazing landing of the first stage of the rocket SpaceX to automated «hands» Mechazilla towers. However, the Starship itself exploded after being powered up.

The test flight on October 13 was a huge success and a triumph for the engineers. The first stage of the rocket «jewelry» landed on the tower, only melting the fins. Many reports stated that the second part, i.e. the spacecraft, had successfully landed in the Indian Ocean. This formulation is true to the essence of the test, but does not convey the drama of the moment. The explosion occurred after the submersion.

The upper part of the 50-meter-long rocket made an exemplary flight and orbited the Earth for almost an hour. Immediately before the reentry, Starship «rolled over on its belly to slow its descent even further. Then the ship started its engines to right itself and slow its descent over the ocean surface.

Starship Flight 5 Splashdown! @SpaceX‘s Starship vehicle has successfully soft-landed in the Indian Ocean, then tipped over and appeared to explode as it fell into the sea. ‘Starship has landed,’ SpaceX says. Recovery was never intended for this Ship. pic.twitter.com/TTBVGOJVpY

— Tariq J. Malik (@tariqjmalik) October 13, 2024

But a few seconds later, a camera in the water recorded an explosion in the form of a huge fireball. The spectacle was a spectacular end to a test launch that went down in the history of space flight. The eX Twitter post notes that this ship was never intended to be recovered.

The official SpaceX account congratulated the team on the «exciting fifth flight test of Starship». At the end of the video, the post also shows an explosion Elon Musk in his report noted the accuracy of the landing in accordance with the test objective.

Ship landed precisely on target!

Second of the two objectives achieved. https://t.co/aMnllnkyzP

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2024

An explosion is a dramatic and spectacular event, however, not strange during the tests. Obviously, SpaceX will have a lot to work on before the next test. They are expected in a few months, after preparations and permits are completed.

Source: The Byte