SpaceX Starship rocket explodes after landing, in third such incident
- The rocket had a successful flight and landing, but flames appeared and it exploded minutes later. Two previous prototypes also blew up after test runs
- SpaceX founder Elon Musk has been developing the next-generation Starship rocket for the purpose of going to Mars
It was the third straight incident involving the prototype of the Starship rocket, which SpaceX hopes one day to send to Mars. The last two test flights ended in crashes.
“A beautiful soft landing,” a SpaceX commentator said on the live broadcast of the test flight, although flames were coming out at the bottom and crews were trying to put them out.
The rocket exploded a few minutes later. It was thrown into the air and crashed back to the ground. No explanation was immediately provided.
As seen on SpaceX video, the rocket appeared to have otherwise landed properly after its flight.
“Starship SN10 landed in one piece!” SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted jokingly about an hour after the explosion.
“SpaceX team is doing great work! One day, the true measure of success will be that Starship flights are commonplace,” he said in a second tweet.
SpaceX has been developing the next-generation Starship rocket for the purpose of going to Mars – though two prototypes blew up in spectacular fashion on their recent test runs.