Giant SpaceX rocket; explodes within four minutes of flight

SpaceX rocket fails to complete test of circling the world and explodes within four minutes of the launch.

With everything set in place for the launch of one of the most powerful and ambitious rockets to exist, Elon Musk’s SpaceX giant took off on Thursday in its first test flight. It was set to rise from its launch pad and attempt to take the 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip, starting from the tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. After its launch, it unfortunately crashed into the Gulf of Mexico; it carried no people or satellites.

The giant rocket was planned to have a booster peel away from the spacecraft, merely minutes before takeoff, however, it failed to do so. This led the rocket to eventually plummet to the ground, exploding barely four minutes into its flight. The booster peel was intended to separate from the spacecraft while allowing the rocket to continue east, attempting to circle the world.   

Nothing was meant to be saved from the stainless steel rocket that was designed to be fully reusable, lowering costs dramatically. Despite the failure, SpaceX declared it a success. “We cleared the tower which was our only hope," said Kate Tice, a SpaceX quality systems engineer. Further adding in a tweet, SpaceX said, “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's test will help us improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary.”