by SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket, the most powerful rocket on Earth, on its second test flight this weekend, and while the vehicle may have met an explosive end, its flight is absolutely astonishing to behold.
Stunning photos and videos from SpaceX, Space.com, news wires and the public show the sheer spectacle of the second Starship test launch, which SpaceX launched early Saturday (Nov. 18) from its Starbase facility near the beach. Boca Chica in South Texas.
In a major milestone for SpaceX, the two stages of the rocket successfully separated. The Super Heavy booster exploded shortly after, while Starship’s upper stage detonated before completing its launch. Still, SpaceX praised the second test flight, which reached space and flew higher, farther and longer than its debut launch in April, as a success and will now study the flight to make necessary improvements for the next launch.
Related: SpaceX Starship launches on second test flight, but explodes
“Seeing the Starship launch in person was incredible,” Space.com’s Josh Dinner said of the view.
The dinner captured photos of the Starship launch from South Padre Island’s Cameron Country Amphitheater, where crowds of spectators gathered well before dawn to choose a great spot to watch the launch.
“Even from 5 miles away, you could see the sheer power of the engines as they came out of the launch tower,” Dinner said. “It was tremendously impressive.”
Related: NASA chief congratulates SpaceX on explosive second Starship launch test
Photojournalist Timothy A. Clary of news agencies AFP and Getty Images also captured stunning photos of the Starship launch, including close-up views of the rocket’s liftoff and ascent just before stage separation.
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Some of the most striking first photographs come from SpaceX itself, which captured the specific moment of stage separation, which tested a hot staging technique, something new for Starship on this flight, in which Starship’s upper stage It started its engines before breaking free. of the Super Heavy first stage booster.
SpaceX and Dinner also captured excellent close-ups of the joined Starship and Super Heavy, which together measure nearly 400 feet (122 meters) tall, as they soared over the Gulf of Mexico.
Shortly after the stage separation, the Super Heavy booster exploded in what SpaceX called an “unscheduled rapid disassembly.” The company will now work to understand what caused this failure after hot startup and how to avoid it on the next test flight.
On the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, spectators and photographers seemed excited to have witnessed the Starship test launch.
But some of the most revealing images come from after the launch, when photographers were able to visit the launch pad and report that it was in good condition.
During SpaceX’s first launch test on April 20, the Super Heavy booster opened a huge crater beneath the pad, requiring extensive repairs. For the second flight, SpaceX installed a water deluge system and a protective metal plate to protect the platform.
“Starbase pad appears to be in good condition after Starship launch this morning!” wrote photographer John Kraus in X. “The road to the beach is open.”
Here are some more views from the photographers.
Some viewers watching Starship’s second test flight included people who had not only flown in space before, but had also launched SpaceX rockets.
Sian Proctor, who launched a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon capsule into orbit in September 2021 on the private Inspiration4 mission funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, sent congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the launch.
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“Congratulations to all the people at SpaceX for continuing to make history as humanity advances to the Moon, Mars and beyond!!” Attorney wrote in X.
SpaceX engineers now have the task ahead of them to understand why the Starship vehicle detonated using its flight termination system just before completing its launch. The company has said it will also study the explosion of Super Heavy so that future iterations of the vehicle can return to Earth for reuse, as it and Starship are designed to do.
“Honestly, it’s an incredibly successful day even though we had an unscheduled rapid teardown of both the Super Heavy booster and the ship,” Kate Tice, SpaceX quality engineering manager, said during the live webcast. “That’s great. We have a lot of data and all of that will help us improve for our next flight.”
NASA has chosen SpaceX’s Starship to take astronauts to the moon on the Artemis 3 mission, which the agency hopes to launch in 2025 or 2026. Meanwhile, SpaceX has already sold trips around the moon on Starship to commercial customers, such as the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. , and hopes to use the vehicle for deep space flights to Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
