Elon Musk Tweets “Congrats” After SpaceX Rocket Explodes
It’s not just Twitter and Teslas that are melting down.
Elon Musk’s latest project has gone down in flames — and no, we’re not talking about Twitter, or the propensity for his prized Teslas to spontaneously combust. On Thursday morning, the much-anticipated SpaceX launch of its massive “Starship” rocket exploded just minutes after liftoff — plummeting into the Gulf of Mexico.
The crew-less mission was a test run for what SpaceX and Nasa one day hope to use to bring people and cargo to the moon. Thousands looked on as the giant 400-foot shuttle burst into flames in the sky above Texas’ South Padre Island four minutes into its planned trip around the Earth.
The aircraft reportedly had several of its 33 engines fail, and the booster didn’t peel away as planned.
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Nasa scrapped its planned launch on Monday due to a frozen booster valve, and this was the shuttle’s second attempt. Musk could have been more optimistic in the days leading up to the launch, stating that it had a 50/50 chance of success, reports the Associated Press.
But the Tesla founder quickly fired off a congratulatory tweet to those involved with today’s mission. “Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!” he tweeted. “Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.”
Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!
Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
According to the Associated Press, this will be the most significant and robust rocket sent into space thus far. The news outlet also says the stainless steel spaceship is “designed to be fully reusable with fast turnaround, dramatically lowering costs.”
In 2023, SpaceX has already completed 25 launches of its heavy-duty rockets so far and is aiming for 100 by year’s end.
Nasa has tapped the Starship for its next human-crewed mission on the moon, and wealthy elites are already booking their trips to be on board. No word yet if Elon will go up — or down — with the ship.
