Gallery: Starship Flight Test Meets Promise Of ‘Excitement Guaranteed’

SpaceX’s first Super Heavy rocket lifted off from the company’s privately owned spaceport in Boca Chica Beach, Texas, at 8:33 a.m. local time on April 20, aiming to put a Starship spacecraft on a test run around the planet.

Images of the Super Heavy’s ascent clearly show multiple Raptor engines not firing. The vehicle was outfitted with 33 methane-burning engines.

The vehicle passed through the region of maximum aerodynamic pressure and was approaching the point of main engine shutdown and stage separation when a problem arose.

Starship

The flight test ended with the Starship and the Super Heavy engulfed in a ball of flames. SpaceX did not immediately say if the destruction was triggered by the vehicle’s onboard flight termination safety system.

SpaceX considers the flight a success, given that its main goal was to generate data that can be used to improve processes and systems.