Boca Chica, Texas. Space X’s Starship, powered by its Super-Heavy booster, successfully leaves the launch pad. However, several things go wrong: the launch pad is severely damaged, some engines fail to ignite, and others shut down shortly after launch. Finally, the Starship fails to separate from the first stage, causing the rocket to become uncontrollable. Just four minutes after launch, at an altitude of 40 kilometers, it explodes. The primary objective—clearing the launch pad—is achieved, but several things remain to be reviewed. NASA chief Bill Nelson congratulates Space X: “Every great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of calculated risk, because with great risk comes great reward.” Subsequent analysis will determine that 30 of the 33 Raptor engines reached full thrust at launch. Space X has euphemistically described the mission’s abrupt end as a “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly” (RUD).
