SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded Thursday, minutes after lifting off from a launchpad in south Texas. The rocket, the most powerful ever built, did not reach orbit but provided important lessons for the private spaceflight company as it worked toward a more successful mission.
At 9:33 a.m. Eastern time, the engines on the Super Heavy booster ignited in a huge cloud of fire, smoke and dust, and Starship rose slowly upward. About a minute later, the rocket passed through a period of maximum aerodynamic pressure, one of the crucial moments for the launch of any rocket. Shortly after, it began to tumble before exploding in a fireball high above the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite the mission’s fiery outcome, Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, offered congratulations to the company. "Every great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of calculated risk, because with great risk comes great reward,” Nelson wrote on Twitter.