Replay! SpaceX launches Starship and Super Heavy for first time, ends in RUD

The Starship deep-space rocket system launched from SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas on April 20, 2023.

Broadcast courtesy: SpaceX

[russellg]

the fact they can do a 360 flip at >1500km/h without the shear forces breaking it up is incredible

[tonyscool]

As soon as it started spining, we knew it was all over lol

[MYOB]

I think that went well. SpaceX facilities are intact, no mass casualties and a nice explosion at the end.

[katebunnell]

I'm 56, well into the space age. There is no need for this type of failure. And certainly not bragging about getting into a 4 minute flight before absolute destruction.

[Mrmisticum]

Did we forgot how to build successful spaceships? We were on the Moon for Gods sake.And we got back.

[neminon]

Anything past Max Q should be considered huge success, as the integrity of the vehicle was intact all the way until the inevitable end. It's a rocket science.

[Heregoesnuttin]

SpaceX: C'mon. LAUNCH!

Starship: I'll try spinning! That's a good trick!

[tiemen]

Good job. You managed to blow up a $100mln+ asset and turn that into a positive event. Quite an achievement tbh. Seriously though, one step at a time. Good job, and good luck! No guts, no glory.

[davidbrown]

That was amazing. I love the SpaceX team's attitude and mindset. No such thing as failure.... only learning. I'd love to be on that team. I love the feeling of achievement. Just GREAT! Thank you.

[Kjt]

Oh god those poor people having to read the 'we exploded but this is good!' script 😂
Exciting indeed lol

[Arizonalife]

And millions of dollars goes up in flame, "successfully "

[cactusface]

They seem very happy about the explosion..

[黄辰旭]

It's actually failed after T+02 :00 & T+02 :20 at 20 kilo, the engine can't controlled the maneuver and rocket started to stall. The T+03 :59 is the self-destruct.

[mwwwwwwwwww]

The Starship failed to separate Super Heavy.
They decided to blow up the rocket.

[joblo]

That's a really blood thirsty crew, cheering after the "rapid deconstruction" phase of the launch.

This is the 3rd feed I've watched.
One showed big chunks of "stuff" (probably concrete) flying about 90% of the apparent height of the tower as the rocket was clearing it.


From a POV looking at the ship towards the fuel tanks, after the launch, one of the tanks was venting something about 3/4 way up. It was NOT venting before launch and there was no apparent vent in that location.

About a minute in, I could see glittering bit's and pieces falling, at a guess, some of the engines deconstructing.

Almost from the start there were flickers and flares in exhaust, I'm guessing engines disassembling. Orange flares, I wonder if that would be chunks of carbon fiber? Or just bad fuel mix.

This flight looked cursed from the time it cleared the tower.

I'm surprised they let it tumble as long as they did. I wonder if they were trying to recover control ... ?

Exciting. I look forward to the accident investigation.

[IntiBPeps]

I’m no rocket scientist but that was depressing to watch from a civilian standpoint.

[Diaz.et.Pam.]

Who thought THIS would work? Raise your hand, I did not!😂T-40 seconds hold for check out was a dead giveaway!

[GiselaBitzelsbacher]

Why are they using metrics in the overlay? 🤔 and why are there positive reactions when the thing explodes instead of being negatively surprised? 🤔

[HinduWarriorForever]

The launch moment begins at 44:57 good launch. 👍

[TomAmis]

That was anything but a nominal launch as described by the ascent commentator. You can clearly see the failure of at least 5 engines during the space crafts climb uphill. And really a RUD?! It was a catastrophic failure of the spacecraft that ended in an explosion. My hats off to Elon and his team for getting this far, it's a great piece of engineering. But there is no need to sugarcoat what was actually happening during the launch.