SpaceX’s Starship Explodes Over Mexican Gulf During 1st Test Flight, Elon Musk Lauds Blast As Learning Curve

• SpaceX's Starship exploded over the Gulf of Mexico only minutes into its first-ever test flight
• Elon Musk and SpaceX lauded the launch as a success, claiming a lot was learnt from the explosion
• The unmanned super rocket was purposely blown up after the craft failed to separate from the rocket booster

TEXAS - The world's biggest and most powerful rocket, Starship, exploded minutes after taking off for its first test flight on Thursday, 20 April.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk don't view the explosion as a failure, however, and congratulated the SpaceX team on the "exciting" test.

Musk tweeted:

"Congrats, SpaceX team, on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for the next test launch in a few months."

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SpaceX blows up Starship after separation failure

Private space company SpaceX blew up the unmanned rockets four minutes after it took off from the Starbase in Boza Chica, Texas.

The craft had been scheduled to separate from the rocket booster three minutes into the flight but failed to do so. When the spacecraft lost several engines and began to tumble, a termination system was activated. This resulted in a fiery explosion above the Gulf of Mexico, EWN reported.

SpaceX claimed that It is standard procedure to destroy a wayward rocket to prevent damage to people or property below.

Spacex lauds Starship rocket launch as a success

The private space company released a statement saying that the success of the test flight lies in what was learned from the explosion.

"We learned a tremendous amount about the vehicle and ground systems today that will help us improve on future flights of Starship."

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According to Reuters, even though SpaceX is happy with the outcome of the launch, the mission fell short of achieving several objectives.

The original plan was for Starship to leave the earth's atmosphere and travel through space for at least 150 kilometres.

Netizens had mixed reactions to Starship's launch and explosion

Below are some comments:

@the_ssociety said:

"$3 billion exploded, you mean?"

@alwaysapauled asked:

"Am I the only one to think this is a massive egocentric waste of time and resources?"

@Kalimaxos1 pointed out:

"It achieved most its first flight objectives. No new rocket works perfectly the first time."

@GCapital_LLC praised:

"Unreal! Not easy to wrap one's head around the magnitude of this achievement."

DA’s vow to challenge ANC regulations blocking Elon Musk’s Starlink in SA sparks debate: “Is it affordable?”

In another story, Briefly News reported that the Democratic Alliance is taking the ANC to task for what the party has described as archaic regulations blocking progress in South Africa.

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SpaceX Starship, world's biggest rocket, explodes during first flight test

The official opposition party has accused the ANC of preventing tech billionaire Elon Musk's internet system Starlink from operating in South Africa.

DA MP and shadow minister of communication Dianne Kohler Barnard issued a scathing press release claiming that for Starlink to operate in SA, historically disadvantaged people would have to have a minimum of 30% equity in the company.

Source: Briefly News