A recent test of the Starship rocket, the world's largest and most powerful launch vehicle, ended with the upper stage breaking up over the Atlantic Ocean. About 10 minutes into the flight, the upper stage encountered an engine malfunction, causing it to break, Newsweek reports.
At the same time, Elon Musk posted a video of the explosion and wrote: "Success is uncertain, but fun is guaranteed!"
The publication recalled that this is the seventh test of the Starship spacecraft, which is supposed to return NASA astronauts to the Moon by the end of this decade. Despite the fact that SpaceX has achieved considerable success in the past few years, the latest failure is a testament to the challenges and ambitions of the company's space program.
“Musk’s ultimate goal of reaching Mars depends on the success of Starship, which is intended to become a fully reusable space transportation system,” the article emphasized.
Why did the Starship explode?
According to preliminary data, the explosion occurred due to an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the engine firewall, which resulted in a fire that flooded the ventilation system, Elon Musk reported.
“Corrective measures, including extinguishing the fire and increasing ventilation capacity, are already being planned for the next test flight,” the publication added.