Starship megarocket blows up over Indian Ocean in latest bumpy test
TEXAS
SpaceX's prototype Starship exploded over the Indian Ocean on May 27, capping another bumpy test flight for the rocket central to billionaire Elon Musk's dream of colonizing Mars.
The biggest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built lifted off around 6:36 pm (2336 GMT) from the company's Starbase facility, near a southern Texas village that earlier this month voted to become a city — also named Starbase.
Excitement ran high among SpaceX engineers and spectators alike, after the last two outings ended with the upper stage disintegrating in fiery cascades over the Caribbean.
But signs of trouble emerged quickly: the first-stage Super Heavy booster blew up instead of executing its planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
A live feed then showed the upper-stage spaceship failing to open its doors to deploy a payload of Starlink satellite "simulators."
Though the ship flew farther than on its two previous attempts, it sprang leaks and began spinning out of control as it coasted through space.
Mission teams vented fuel to reduce the force of the expected explosion, and onboard cameras cut out roughly 45 minutes into what was meant to be a 66-minute flight -- falling short of its target splashdown zone off Australia's west coast.
"Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly," SpaceX posted on X — a familiar euphemism for fiery failure — while stressing it would learn from the setback.
Musk, meanwhile, vowed to pick up the pace: "Launch cadence for the next 3 flights will be faster - approximately one every 3 to 4 weeks," he said.
