Following much hype and delay, SpaceX on Thursday finally attempted to launch the world’s largest space-bound rocket for the first time. Equipped with 30 engines putting out an estimated 15 million pounds of thrust, getting the Starship rocket into the air is a historic feat.
Although the rocket did become airborne, things didn’t go as well as planned. Roughly four minutes into its flight, 18 miles above the Earth’s surface, the rocket failed to separate from its booster and began to spin end over end. It then started plummeting back down before exploding.
The rocket wasn’t the only thing to come out of the launch the worse for wear. Footage from a nearby camera for the LabPadre YouTube channel documented a minivan being hit hard by a large rock spewing from the debris kicked up by the launch. And the launch pad itself also sustained damage, though this was not unexpected due to the size of the rocket. Thankfully the area was evacuated long before launch to ensure no one was close enough to be caught up in the blast.
