Starship and Super Heavy explode during first-ever orbital flight 4 minutes after launch

On the second attempt, SpaceX was able to launch the Starship rocket system on its first-ever orbital flight. Starship and the Super Heavy rocket exploded, but it was no big deal.

Here's What We Know

On 17 April, SpaceX cancelled the Starship test nine minutes before liftoff. The countdown was stopped at T-00:00:06. A new date was set for April 20. The company also had to stop the countdown during preparations, but all malfunctions were fixed.

Starship's first launch took place at 4:33 p.m. (EET). The Super Heavy rocket and Starship launched from the Starbase spaceport in Texas. The prototypes are called Booster 7 and Ship 24 respectively. For them, today's flight was the only one.

During the flight, Booster 7's five of Raptor's 33 engines failed. Three minutes after launch, the first stage separation should have started. However, the system did a 'somersault' in the air, went into an uncontrolled spin and exploded a minute later.

Overall, SpaceX may be pleased with the launch, despite the destruction of Booster 7 and Ship 24. By the way, the explosion was officially described as a "quick unplanned disassembly". Elon Musk said as recently as last month that Starship would crash with a 50% probability.

Source: SpaceX