SpaceX's massive Starship rocket successfully launched on Saturday (November 18) but exploded about ten minutes into its flight. The rocket was supposed to reach orbit and fly almost around the world during a 90-minute flight.
The Starship rocket blasted off from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and was supposed to splash down off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii.
While the rocket successfully separated from the Super Heavy booster, the booster unexpectedly exploded after separation. A few minutes later, the Starship's automated flight termination system activated, and the rocket was destroyed over the ocean before it could reach its target altitude.
"What we do believe right now is that the automated flight termination system on second stage appears to have triggered very late in the burn, as we were headed downrange out over the Gulf of Mexico," John Insprucker, SpaceX's principal integration engineer, said during a live webcast of the launch, per Space.com.
According to Wired.com, the Starship did achieve one important milestone by surviving "max q, or the point in its ascent when it's under the most pressure from the atmosphere and its own velocity."
The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into what it described as a "mishap."