BREAKING: SpaceX Starship mega-rocket 'destroyed' as Elon Musk's mission for Mars his snag
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Elon Musk's quest to reach Mars hit another snag last night as his SpaceX Starship was destroyed amid its seventh test flight. Crowds gathered in Texas to watch the spacecraft - a new and upgraded model making its debut - blast into the sky, with the intention to soar across the Gulf of Mexico on a near loop around the world.
But less than ten minutes in, Starship broke apart in what Mr Musk's company SpaceX called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly". Its six engines appeared to shut down one by one during ascent. SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said: "It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about ship... It’s a flight test. It’s an experimental vehicle." However, Associated Press, a global news agency, reports the spacecraft was destroyed. Unverified footage shared on social media shows what appears to be the rocket breaking up in flames.
Mr Musk's aerospace company, founded in California in 2002, had posted on X: "Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn. Teams will continue to review data from today's flight test to better understand root cause. With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight will help us improve Starship's reliability.".
The Starship - the biggest rocket ever created at nearly 400feet (121metres) tall - was packed with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them for the test flight. The last data received from the spacecraft indicated an altitude of 90miles (146kilometers) and a velocity of 13,245mph (21,317kph) but then the issues disappointed the company - and the crowds gathered on the southern tip of Texas.
