SpaceX Starship test flight ends in a fiery crash
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
SpaceX's Starship rocket had a successful launch from Texas on Wednesday afternoon, but exploded after a crash landing.
Still, SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted that the test flight was a success, and the company was able to get all the data it needed. "Mars, here we come!" he added. Musk has said he wants the rocket to be used to take passengers to the moon and ultimately Mars, and hopes to launch an unmanned mission to the Red Planet by 2024.
No one was on board the ship during Wednesday's test flight, which lasted nearly seven minutes. Prior to the launch, SpaceX said the goal of the test flight was to get Starship up to an altitude of 41,000 feet, while also seeing how the rocket's three engines performed and the overall aerodynamic entry capabilities, ABC News reports. Catherine Garcia
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
