The Starship spacecraft has taken the world by storm with its first successful flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Starbase in Texas. The launch took place at 8:33 a.m. CT, and the vehicle cleared the pad and beach as it climbed to an apogee of approximately 39 km over the Gulf of Mexico, which is the highest any Starship has reached so far. However, the vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship.
As per standard procedure, the pad and surrounding area were cleared well in advance of the test, and we expect the road and beach near the pad to remain closed until tomorrow. Despite the unexpected turn of events, we learned a tremendous amount about the vehicle and ground systems today that will help us improve on future flights of Starship.
We would like to extend our gratitude to our customers, Cameron County, and the wider community for their continued support and encouragement. Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting first flight test of Starship!
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