Spacex’s gigantic starship rocket turned out of control before apparently departed during his eighth test flight, representing another setback for Elon Musk company less than two months after his.
A few minutes after takeoff on Thursday, the two parts of the rocket separated as planned. The Super Heavy driver then returned to Earth, being captured in the air by the gigantic mechanical arms of the launch tower.
However, the spacecraft Starship began to rotate uncontrollably about eight minutes after the launch, and the mission lost contact with the vehicle.
Although Starship has called all its six raptor engines as expected, some began to fail before the time scheduled to turn off, according to one of Spacex’s live broadcast presenters. At this point, the ship lost control.
Spacex ended the broadcast and said it would provide updates later.
The US Aviation Air Air Traffic Control System Command Center (FAA) issued an automated warning warning operators about falling wreckage, suggesting that the rocket had broken.
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FAA did not immediately respond to a comment request.
Spectators published videos in the X showing wreckage falling near the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.
This was the second consecutive release of Starship interrupted around the eighth minute of flight. The company planned to test a number of improvements, including Starship’s ability to launch satellites into the space, something that was already planned in the previous test, but was eventually aborted.
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Starship is critical to Spacex CEO’s dream, Elon Musk, to bring humans and moon loads and Mars. Since 2023, Spacex has been conducting periodic tests of Starship, seeking to improve their abilities with each flight.
During this test, Spacex planned to evaluate improvements, including more resistant flaps for atmosphere control, as well as improved propulsion and navigation systems.
Engineers would also try to rekindle one of Starship’s raptor engines in space, an essential technique for spacecraft to maneuver orbit in the future.
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As in previous missions, the plan was that the top of the rocket would complete a partial lap around the earth before landing in the Indian Ocean near the Australian coast, about an hour after the launch.
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