SpaceX Loses Control of Starship, Adding to Spacecraft's Mixed Record
Billionaire Elon Musk's commercial space flight company, SpaceX, lost control of its ninth Starship test flight 30 minutes after the uncrewed rocket vehicle was launched into space from Texas, the United States, the Reuters news agency reports.
The mega-rocket then re-entered the atmosphere earlier than planned on Wednesday after an onboard fuel leak triggered uncontrollable spinning in space, according to Reuters.
In a post on social media, SpaceX said the Starship experienced a 'rapid unscheduled disassembly', meaning it burst apart.
'With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's test will help us improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary,' the company added.
Before losing control, the 403-foot (123-metre) rocket flew beyond the point of past test-launch failures, according to reports.
The latest test launch comes after a SpaceX Starship exploded shortly after takeoff on March 6.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) diverted several flights and briefly halted departures at four Florida airports, including Miami International Airport, as debris from the failed flight fell in the area.
Musk has spent billions of dollars on Starship's development. The South African-born billionaire claims the initiative is part of his commercial space flight company's plan to colonise the planet Mars. SpaceX is also working with US government agency NASA to return humans to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
Due to their large size and frequent failures, SpaceX test flights have now rained down debris across southern US states and the Caribbean on multiple occasions.
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