Starship Explosion in April: Was it intentional? What lessons can be learned from the last launch?
The Starship rocket was destined to reach space in April 2023, but exploded shortly after takeoff; however, for Musk, that does not make the explosion a failure.
On the morning of April 20, 2023 SpaceX attempted to send its Starship into space. However, shortly after taking off from Boca Chica, Texas, it exploded in midair.
According to the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, the Starship rocket exploded because the Super Heavy booster failed to separate from the ship, causing an "unscheduled rapid disassembly."
Why was the Starship explosion a success for Elon Musk?
Despite the fact that “the biggest rocket ever created” exploded just four minutes after launch, the explosion did not represent a failure for Musk. On the contrary, the Tesla magnate saw it as a success for the simple fact of taking off, as it is a large aircraft that managed to exceed Max Q, the moment of maximum aerodynamic pressure.
Furthermore, the company pointed out that true success comes from learning from mistakes, as today’s failure will help them improve for the next release. “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary,” the company wrote via Twitter.
When will the next launch be?
The next launch for SpaceX will be on Nov. 17, 2023. Starship will takeoff pending final approval by the government. We will see then how much Musk and his team learned from the rocket explosion in April.