Billionaire Elon Musk's company SpaceX reached space with the launch of Starship Flight 9, and then lost control of the giant ship, writes UNN with reference to Space.com.
Details
SpaceX launched its Starship mega-rocket for the ninth time on May 27 in a bold test flight that included the first-ever significant reuse of Starship equipment.
The two stages of Starship separated as planned during Flight 9, and the upper stage even reached space, an improvement over the outcome of the giant spacecraft's last two flights. But SpaceX ended up losing both stages before they could fully complete their flight objectives.
"Starship reached planned ship engine shutdown, so that's a big improvement over the last flight!" - wrote SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on social media after the flight.
"A leak led to a loss of pressure in the main tank during the flight and entry phase. Lots of good data to analyze," he noted.
Musk said the next three Starship test launches could start every three to four weeks in the coming days.
Addition
SpaceX is developing Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever created, to help humanity conquer the Moon and Mars, among other tasks.