After launch, SpaceX’s Starship rocket catches fire

The Starship is the most potent rocket ever created and is intended to transport people to Mars, the moon, or perhaps farther.

The enormous Starship from SpaceX has launched, but it was unable to enter orbit.

The stainless steel spacecraft, which consists of a spacecraft perched on the so-called Super Heavy booster rocket, launched on Thursday morning from Boca Chica, Texas in the United States.

According to Stephen Clark of SpaceflightNow.com, at least five of its 33 Raptor engines did not appear to activate as the rocket lifted off. The rocket climbed beyond the launch tower and began to ascend.

The spacecraft was unable to detach from the Super Heavy launcher, spinning endlessly before disintegrating in what is known as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” in technical terms.

The gigantic launching device was 120 metres (394 feet) tall, surpassing the Statue of Liberty in New York City. With its successful launch, the United States has made progress in space travel, and the business sees the spacecraft as an important component of manned missions to Mars in the future.

For the first time since the Apollo programme came to an end in 1972, NASA has chosen the Starship spaceship to carry men to the moon in late 2025. This mission is known as Artemis III.

As a result of a pressurisation problem in the lower-stage Super Heavy rocket, SpaceX had earlier postponed a launch that was scheduled for Monday. Musk said in a tweet that the abandoned test had taught him “a lot.”

Starship cruise ship prototypes had just completed five subspace trips up to 10 km (6 miles) above Earth. Although SpaceX completed a test-firing of the booster in February, sparking 31 of its 33 Raptor engines for around 10 seconds while the rocket was strapped in place vertically atop a platform, the Super Heavy booster has never taken off.

“It’s a very risky flight,” Musk remarked on Sunday during a Twitter broadcast. It is the first launch of a huge, intricate rocket.

In a successful test, all 33 Raptor engines would fire simultaneously to launch the Starship on a journey that would almost take it around the entire planet. It would then re-enter the atmosphere and plunge at supersonic speeds into the Pacific Ocean, about 60 miles (97 km) off the coast of the northern Hawaiian Islands.

The Super Heavy rocket is designed to start a controlled return flight when it separates from the Starship before crashing into the Gulf of Mexico.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES AND AL JAZEERA