SpaceX Starship booster erupts into fireball after explosion at aborted landing

Detailed summary

SpaceX’s attempt to recover its entire Starship back at the launch pad was thwarted when the booster fell into the Gulf of Mexico in a dramatic fireball explosion on Friday.…

SpaceX’s attempt to recover its entire Starship back at the launch pad was thwarted when the booster fell into the Gulf of Mexico in a dramatic fireball explosion on Friday. Instead of returning to its Texas pad following liftoff, the first-stage booster was diverted to a point offshore.

Despite the setback, the bullet-shaped spacecraft continued toward orbit. It will steer toward the pad Saturday for a similar grab, barring further trouble.

It’s the first time that the spacecraft will try to return to the pad from orbit, to be plucked in midair by mechanical arms secured to the launch tower. If all goes well, the flight will last 22 hours.

The original goal was to retrieve every single piece of the rocket for the purpose of future recycling, something yet to be achieved anywhere in the world. Musk sees this leading to the kind of fast and consistent launch rates necessary for building moon bases and sending people to Mars.

Shortly after reaching orbit, Starship dropped off 26 of the company’s most advanced Starlink satellites. The plan is for Starship to complete 15 laps around the world at an altitude of around 170 miles (275 kilometers) before heading back to the launch site for Saturday’s grand finale.

SpaceX had already made three booster grabs at the company’s sprawling Starbase near the U.S.-Mexico border. That made Friday’s miss all the more surprising.

“Well, that certainly isn’t the news that we had hoped to hear for today,” observed SpaceX launch commentator Kate Tice, adding that it was in line with the many rigorous safety checks to protect the pad. No explanation was provided for what went wrong.

This was the first attempt to capture the upgraded version of the booster that stretches 236 feet (72 meters) — the production model for moon and Mars expeditions. It will also be the first time the company attempts to catch the spacecraft, which spans 171 feet (52 meters).

The spacecraft portion of the 14 previous Starships ended up in the ocean, either by design at…

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