CAMERON COUNTY, TX (WZMQ) – SpaceX sent the world’s most powerful rocket into orbit Monday, but not without an issue.
One of the starship’s six upper-stage engines shut down shortly after launch.
Still…the flight control team deemed the spacecraft healthy enough to continue to orbit.
SpaceX is competing with Blue Origin to help send NASA astronauts to the moon in 2028…this flight was meant as a stepping stone toward that goal.
The controllers did decide to bring the Starship back to Earth hours ahead of schedule, ending the mission with a planned explosion after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean
“And they’re going to have to fly dozens of flights really well to establish the reliability needed before NASA’s going to put people on board for such a life-or-death sort of mission. This is the first step down that road, but it’s just a first step. They need to do this frequently and with good reliability before that’s gonna happen,” said CBS News Space consultant Bill Harwood.
Starship launched more than two dozen Starlink satellites while up in space.
This was Starship’s 14th launch—its first into orbit.
