Gallery: Starship Flight Test Meets Promise Of ‘Excitement Guaranteed’

SpaceX considers the flight a success, given that its main goal was to generate data that can be used to improve processes and systems.

SpaceX’s first Super Heavy rocket lifted off from the company’s privately owned spaceport in Boca Chica Beach, Texas, at 8:33 a.m. local time on April 20, aiming to put a Starship spacecraft on a test run around the planet.

Images of the Super Heavy’s ascent clearly show multiple Raptor engines not firing. The vehicle was outfitted with 33 methane-burning engines.

The vehicle passed through the region of maximum aerodynamic pressure and was approaching the point of main engine shutdown and stage separation when a problem arose.

Starship

The flight test ended with the Starship and the Super Heavy engulfed in a ball of flames. SpaceX did not immediately say if the destruction was triggered by the vehicle’s onboard flight termination safety system.

SpaceX considers the flight a success, given that its main goal was to generate data that can be used to improve processes and systems.