SpaceX’s Starship Rocket Fails in Second Test Flight Following Explosions

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SpaceX’s colossal Starship rocket embarked on its test flight this Saturday, yet the mission encountered a setback as both the booster and the spacecraft were lost minutes into the flight.

The booster successfully propelled the Starship towards orbit, but communication ceased eight minutes post-launch from the South Texas site, leading SpaceX to conclude the mission was unsuccessful.

The issue emerged during the final stages of the ship’s engine burn, intended to position it for a global trajectory. Prior to this, the booster had undergone an explosion, although it had already completed its task of setting the spacecraft on its space-bound trajectory.

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Measuring 400 feet, the Starship stands as the largest and most potent rocket ever constructed.

The rocket’s debut flight in April also concluded with an explosion shortly after takeoff.

LATEST DEVELOPMENT: The massive new rocket from SpaceX launched from South Texas for a test flight on Saturday, approximately seven months post its initial attempt, which also resulted in an explosion.

The 397-foot (121-meter) Starship rocket soared into the sky and over the Gulf of Mexico. The mission aimed to detach the spaceship from its booster and send it into orbit.

Targeting an altitude of 150 miles (240 kilometers), SpaceX’s goal was to orbit the conical spacecraft globally before it descended into the Pacific near Hawaii, roughly 1 1/2 hours after launch, which was less than a full orbit.

Since its first flight in April, which lasted a mere four minutes before crashing into the gulf, SpaceX, under Elon Musk’s leadership, has implemented numerous enhancements to both the 33-engine booster and the launch pad.

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The Big Big News Health and Science Department, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group, acknowledges that the content of this report is solely the responsibility of the AP.

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