A second test flight failure for SpaceX’s Starship

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The Starship rocket successfully took off Saturday in Boca Chica, Texas, before exploding.

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Spaceship's second test flight ended in another failure on Saturday. SpaceX's massive unmanned spacecraft was stopped in its flight by two explosions.

Spaceship's first test seven years ago month, had also failed.

This time, the rocket successfully took off from Boca Chica, Texas, and its two stages successfully separated before catching fire.

The The rocket consisted of two sections: the Super Heavy propulsion stage and its 33 engines, and the Starship. Both sections did not survive the test flight.

The craft rose to an altitude of 90 kilometers and was scheduled for a 90-minute flight, but engineers on the ground lost contact after ten minutes, Elon Musk's space company said. /p>

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For its part, the Super Heavy booster exploded over the Gulf of Mexico shortly after Starship broke away from it.

< source srcset="https://images.radio-canada.ca/q_auto,w_700/v1/ici-info/16x9/spacex-starship-boca-chica-echec.jpg" media="(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 1023px)">Open full screen

People watch SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft prepare for a test launch from the Boca Chica Launch Pad , near Brownsville, Texas, United States, on November 17, 2023.

The objective of the mission was to approach orbit, before descending into the Earth's atmosphere and landing off the coast of Hawaii.

If successful, SpaceX would have taken an important step in its ambition to develop a large multifunctional spacecraft, capable of sending astronauts to the Moon. Ultimately, SpaceX's ambition is to reach the planet Mars.

SpaceX's second test flight was closely followed by NASA, which is counting on this spacecraft for its return missions to the Moon.

The head of the American space agency, Bill Nelson, congratulated SpaceX on Saturday for the progress made in this launch, citing an opportunity to learn, then fly again.

Together, NASA and SpaceX will bring humanity back to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

On April 20, Starship took off for the first time in its complete configuration. But several engines did not work, and SpaceX deliberately blew up the rocket after four minutes.

With the information from Agence France-Presse and Reuters