SpaceXcarried out another launch of its Starship rocket Thursday but quickly lost contact with the vessel as it roared over the Gulf of Mexico. The rocket scattered debris over parts of the Caribbean, prompting numerous flight diversions around Turks and Caicos and ground stops at four Florida airports.
Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos,SpaceXlaunched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as thespacecraftcame tumbling down.
The 403-foot (123-metre) rocket blasted off from Texas a little before sunset. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost with the spacecraft as it went into an out-of-control spin.
The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour and couldn't release the mock satellites into space as planned. The spacecraft reached nearly 90 miles (150 kilometres) in altitude before trouble struck. It was not immediately clear where it came down.
Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now, SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
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The Federal Aviation Administration issued ground stops for flights departing for Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Palm Beach airports until 8 pm ET (0100 GMT on Friday). Departures at those airports were being delayed by an average of 45 minutes due to theSpaceXincident, the FAA said.
NASAhas booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceXsElon Muskis aiming for Mars with Starship, the worlds biggest and most powerful rocket.
Like last time, Starship had four mock satellites to release once the craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for future missions. They resembled SpaceXs Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant to fall back down following their brief taste of space.
Starships flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the launch site just like the booster.
During the last demo, SpaceX captured the booster at the launch pad, but the spacecraft blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic. No injuries or major damage were reported.
According to an investigation that remains ongoing, leaking fuel triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecrafts engines. The on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.
SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft following the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently cleared Starship once more for launch.
Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican border. SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape Canaveral, Florida, home to the companys smaller Falcon rockets that ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit.
(France 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
Originally published on France24
