Which rocket explodes

Hear from the first all-civilian crew before they go into orbit. Here's how you can experience zero gravity without going to space.

The head of Russia's space agency is jealous of US billionaires. Reality television is heading to outer space. These two things keep Airbus' head of space systems up at night.

The rocket, which launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base north of Los Angeles on Thursday, appeared to have a smooth liftoff as it soared out over the Pacific Ocean and approached supersonic speeds. But then, the rocket began to cartwheel , turning over itself, before US Space Force officials on the ground directed the company to destroy the rocket mid-air — called an emergency abort — so that it would not tumble uncontrolled back toward people or property.

No one was harmed. Firefly is not the only space company to lose a rocket in Astra ASTR , a California-based startup with a similar business plan to Firefly's, attempted last week to put its foot-tall rocket into orbit, but the vehicle veered sideways off its launch pad and attempted to right itself before exploding over the coast of Alaska.

And then there's SpaceX, which has endured many explosions during the early development phases of its rocket technology. Early prototypes of a rocket the company hopes will one day put humans on Mars, for example, have taken several explosive dives back to Earth this year. The next-generation space vehicle put down heavily on its extended legs. A fire then developed around its base and eight minutes later SN10 blew itself apart on the landing pad.

Nonetheless, SpaceX will be hugely encouraged by the test. The prototype successfully executed its in-flight manoeuvres and managed to make a reasonably soft landing. These milestones will give the company confidence as it moves forward with the ambitious concept. SpaceX envisages Starships replacing its existing Falcon rockets. These vehicles carry out regular missions - both crewed and uncrewed - for the US space agency Nasa , the American military, and other commercial concerns.

But CEO Elon Musk says the new 50m-tall Starship will do it all, bigger and better - orbiting satellites and carrying passengers, both around the Earth and to off-world destinations such as the Moon and Mars. Indeed, he's promised a lunar excursion in to the Japanese online fashion retail billionaire Yusaku Maezawa.

Mr Maezawa will travel in a Starship with eight other individuals, and opened applications this week to anyone who might be interested in joining his "dearMoon" venture. Wednesday's high-altitude test proceeded much like the previous prototype flights. These power units shut down in sequence as the target height of roughly 10km 6. This belly-flop descent, controlled by large flaps at either end of the vehicle, is intended to simulate how future, operational Starships will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere from orbit, presenting a large surface area to the direction of travel to scrub off speed.

The vehicle is supposed to transition back to a tail-down configuration just before reaching the surface. Promotional Rates were found for your code. Edit Close. Sign Up Log In. Dashboard Logout. Firefly's rocket explosion stuns spectators; public urged to avoid debris. Share this. Close 1 of 9. Len Wood, Contributor.

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