SpaceX rocket that Elon Musk wants to take people to Mars in explodes during tests
'The outcome was not completely unexpected,' the space firm says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A prototype of a SpaceX rocket designed to carry people to Mars has suffered a major failure during tests in Texas.
A video of the incident recorded by a local space enthusiast captured the moment the top of the Starship MK-1 rocket exploded.
SpaceX said there were no injuries and that the incident in such an early-stage test of the rocket was not a serious setback.
“The purpose of today’s test was to pressurise systems to the max, so the outcome was not completely unexpected,” a spokesperson for the space firm said.
SpaceX CEO revealed on Twitter that tests would now proceed with the Starship MK-3 prototype design, which is more refined and features a much-improved flight design.
Mr Musk unveiled the Starship spacecraft in September, claiming it would be ready to carry humans to Mars within a few years.
“This is going to sound totally nuts, but I think we want to try to reach orbit in less than six months,” he said at the event in Texas.
The billionaire polymath also reiterated his belief that humanity needs to colonise the Moon, Mars and other parts of space in order to ensure its survival.
In order to achieve this, the company has ushered in a number of groundbreaking innovations to vastly reduce the cost of space travel, including reusable rockets that can land vertically following take off.
“We need to make space travel like air travel. Any other mode of transport is reusable so the critical breakthrough is a rapidly reusable orbital rocket – this is the holy grail of space,” he said.
"I think we should really do our best to become a multi-planet species, and we should do it now."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments