SpaceX Starship rocket nails landing for the first time, then explodes

Alan Loughnane

On the bright side, it did land successfully prior to the explosion.

SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype soared into the sky and then safely landed back on earth in what appeared to be a successful launch and landing on Wednesday.

Two previous test flights of the rocket had resulted in crash landings.

However, just minutes after SpaceX had declared the launch and subsequent landing a success, the Starship prototype exploded on the landing pad and blew itself apart.

The rocket soared into the sky in a high-altitude test on Wednesday from Boca Chica in Texas, then flew itself back to Earth and manoeuvred into its first – successful – upright landing.

The big stainless-steel SN10 launched from SpaceX’s South Texas site at 11.15pm Irish, rose 10 kilometres into the sky and then came back to Earth for a smooth touchdown around six minutes after liftoff.

“Third time’s a charm, as the saying goes,” SpaceX principal integration engineer John Insprucker said during SpaceX’s webcast. “We’ve had a successful soft touchdown on the landing pad that’s capping a beautiful test flight of Starship 10.”

A fire then broke out around the base of the rocket and eight minutes later SN10 blew apart on the landing pad.

Starship SN10's post landing demise is unfortunate but still, everyone at SpaceX can chalk todays flight test up as a huge success. Become a patron at the link below for photo downloads, behind the scenes goodies, and more. @NASASpaceflight

➡️ https://t.co/h5jW6oXxkQ pic.twitter.com/H6OjBYCKb5

— Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) March 4, 2021