SpaceX Starship rocket explodes after test launch
A prototype of SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded again during a landing attempt after an experimental launch in Texas, on Tuesday.
Nasdaq 100
20,008.63
12:15 27/09/24
Tesla Motors Inc
$260.46
13:09 27/09/24
The Starship SN9 that blew up was a test model of the heavy-lift rocket being developed by Elon Musk’s private space company to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the moon and Mars.
The self-guided rocket managed a flawless liftoff and reached peak altitude at about 10kms in the air.
It then shut off its engines and executed a planned “belly-flop” maneuver to descend nose-down under aerodynamic control back toward Earth. The rocket then began its landing sequence, but one thruster failed to ignite when it was reactivated.
The rocket exploded when it landed, roughly six minutes after the launch.
America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it would oversee an investigation of Tuesday’s landing mishap.