Elon Musk's company has made the first launch of the new Starship super-heavy rocket, the first reusable space system in history. The launch was made at the SpaceX test site in Boca Chica County, Texas. The launch could be watched live.
Update: Launch failed. Four minutes after launch, the rocket exploded during the separation of the first stage.
The test flight took place without a crew. According to the plan, it was supposed to last an hour and a half, while the Super Heavy booster, having separated, was supposed to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, and Starship was supposed to go to suborbita, and then splash down in the ocean northwest of Hawaii.
The test launch of Starship was supposed to take place on April 17, but it was postponed 40 seconds before the launch. Musk tweeted about a technical problem: the boost valve on the rocket was frozen.
The launch of Starship is considered a major milestone in SpaceX's work to send humans to the Moon and eventually Mars. The new rocket reaches 120 meters in height and nine meters in diameter, with a total payload capacity of 150 tons in low orbit. The system consists of two reusable stages: the first is a Super Heavy with 33 Raptor methane engines, the second is a rocket and at the same time a Starship spacecraft with three Raptor thrust vectoring engines and three Raptor Vacuums.
