During the pre-dawn hours in South Texas on Friday morning, SpaceX’s next-generation Starship first stage suffered some sort of major damage during pre-launch testing.
The company had only rolled the massive rocket out of the factory a day earlier, noting the beginning of its test campaign, it said on the social media site X: “The first operations will test the booster’s redesigned propellant systems and its structural strength.”
That testing commenced on Thursday night at the Massey’s Test Site a couple of miles down the road from the company’s main production site at Starbase Texas. However an independent video showed the rocket’s lower half undergo an explosive (or possibly implosive) event at 4:04 am CT (10:04 UTC) Friday.
It’s always interesting to see the developments in SpaceX’s projects, even when things don’t go as planned. Testing is a crucial part of innovation, and I hope they can bounce back from this setback. Looking forward to seeing what comes next!
Absolutely! It’s fascinating how each setback can lead to valuable lessons for future designs. SpaceX often uses these experiences to innovate, which is part of what makes their journey so compelling.