Elon Musk’s SpaceX spacecraft was captured on camera exploding and falling back down to Earth in its second failed attempt this year to deploy mock satellites.
Sadly, it wasn’t second time lucky this year for SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft which – not even 10 minutes after taking off from Starbase in Texas yesterday (March 3) at 5.30pm CT – came into problems, ended up losing contact with ground control and bursting into pieces.
The flight test was Starship’s eighth test overall but second attempt to deploy mock satellites this year and SpaceX’s website released a report later in the day reflecting on the test.
It explained the Super Heavy booster ‘successfully lit its 33 Raptor engines and propelled Starship through a nominal first-stage ascent’ and ‘approximately two and a half minutes into flight, the Super Heavy booster shutdown all but three of its Raptor engines as planned for hot-staging separation’.
However, despite the Super Heavy booster successfully relighting 11 of 13 planned Raptor engines and performing a ‘boostback burn to return itself to the launch site,’ its ascent then took a turn.
The launch was initially going well (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The report details: “Prior to the end of the ascent burn, an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship resulted in the loss of several Raptor engines. This in turn led to a loss of attitude control and ultimately a loss of communications with Starship.”
This also led to the vehicle experiencing ‘a rapid unscheduled disassembly’ and also loss of contact with ground control, the report adding: “Final contact with Starship came approximately nine minutes and 30 seconds after liftoff.”
The failure ended up briefly grounding flights from some Florida airports, including those in Miami and Orlando, the BBC reports.
Footage posted on social media appears to show people in the Bahamas spotting the debris disintegrating in the sky above them, with some adding they were taking shelter.
And the failure was captured by various social media users, one video shared to Twitter showing lit up debris flying back down to Earth, the caption reading: “If NASA had the failure rate SpaceX does, Elon Musk would be firing everyone and Congress would be demanding to know where the money is going.”
If NASA had the failure rate SpaceX does, Elon Musk would be firing everyone and Congress would be demanding to know where the money is going.
SpaceX’s Twitter page noted: “Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses.”
It’s site reassured the spacecraft ‘flew within a designated launch corridor to safeguard the public both on the ground, on water, and in the air’.
SpaceX ‘immediately began coordination with the FAA, ATO (air traffic control) and other safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses’.
“Any surviving debris would have fallen within the pre-planned Debris Response Area. There are no toxic materials present in the debris and no significant impacts expected to occur to marine species or water quality,” it added – should anyone identify any potential debris, they are asked to contact their local authorities.
SpaceX resolved: “We will review the data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship’s reliability.
The test didn’t quite go to plan (Twitter/ SpaceX)
“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability. We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests.”
Footage of two SpaceX boosters making a smooth and controlled landing back to Earth after sending up a spacecraft has left people amazed.
The video was recorded after a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex on Tuesday, 25 June, carrying the final spacecraft in a series of weather satellites.
Named GOES-U, the final satellite completes the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) R series of satellites which are intended to improve weather forecasting.
Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service, described the satellites as a ‘gamechanger’ at a press briefing on Monday, saying: “Since the first launch of the series in 2016, the latest series of GOES has enabled new and improved forecasts, warnings and services to help save lives and protect property.”
The GOES-U launch was 10th for the Falcon Heavy, and the second contracted by NASA. The Falcon Heavy is made up of three Falcon 9 rocket first stages, giving the craft three times the lift to carry the satellite into space.
The boosters landed at SpaceX’s landing zones. (X/@StarFleetTours)
Though the possibilities provided by the satellites are particularly exciting for meteorologists, it was the parts that returned to Earth that got people talking online.
Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX created the spacecraft, shared a video online showing two side boosters seamlessly returning to Earth after detaching from the Falcon Heavy rocket.
One of the cores can be seen igniting as it approached the Earth, shortly followed by the second a few moments later.
The cores slowed as they neared the ground, before slowly landing upright as intended at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, causing two sonic booms.
The impressive footage has been praised by viewers on X, one of who commented: “Beyond amazed to [see] this. Never gets old!”
The rocket featured three Space 9s. (MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images)
“As a lifelong sci-fi fan, this is really quite moving,” another wrote, adding: “Look what we humans can do! The universe awaits…”
“I will forever be amazed at the engineering this requires,” wrote a third.
One viewer even suggested the video could offer a glimpse into our future beyond Earth, as they commented: “So impressive. This is how we become a space-faring civilization.”
The satellites will move 22,236 miles above the Earth’s equator, moving in sync with the speed of the planet to allow for continuous coverage over the areas below.
With the weather satellites now in place, meteorologists hope to be able to detect storms sooner and have more time to warn the public of approaching threats.
Remember Cards Against Humanity? That game we all use to play as teenagers. Well, its makers are suing Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The Tesla founder and Twitter owner is certainly not afraid of making enemies, and it appears Cards Against Humanity is next on his list.
The card game is suing Musk for $15 million, alleging his company SpaceX trespassed on and trashed their land on the Texas-Mexico border.
A filing that was issued on Thursday states Cards Against Humanity purchased the land via crowdfunding in 2017.
Elon Musk has been sued (Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
In a letter penned to their fans, Cards Against Humanity said: “Elon Musk’s SpaceX was building some space thing nearby, and he figured he could just dump his s**t all over our gorgeous plot of land without asking.
“After we caught him, SpaceX gave us a 12-hour ultimatum to accept a lowball offer for less than half our land’s value. We said, ‘Go f–k yourself, Elon Musk. We’ll see you in court.’”
They added: “So today, we’re announcing Day 7 of Cards Against Humanity Saves America: CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY SUES ELON MUSK FOR 15 MILLION DOLLARS.
“If we win, we’ll equally split the lawsuit’s net proceeds among all 150,000 of our original subscribers, up to $100 each.
“While this isn’t enough to compensate our subscribers for the anguish they’ve suffered witnessing Elon Musk defile their once-verdant land – where wild horses galloped freely in the Texas moonlight – we think it’s a pretty good start.”
The makers of Cards Against Humanity filed a lawsuit this week (Anne Farrar/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The lawsuit states that Cards Against Humanity launched a campaign in 2017 while Donald Trump was US president to ‘make it as time-consuming and expensive as possible’ for the president to build his infamous border wall.
With money raised from fans, a vacant plot of land in Cameron County was purchased.
At the time of buying, the suit claims the land was ‘untouched by development nor impacted in any way to affect its natural condition’.
However, the filing claims SpaceX, which owns a bunch of plots in the surrounding area, decided to ignore the ‘no trespassing’ sign.
The suit goes on to state Musk’s company has cleared the land, with the tech mogul using the land for big projects.
“SpaceX’s abuse of this Property has not only destroyed its natural condition, but has also caused even greater harm to CAH by virtue of the damage it has caused to CAH’s relationship with its paying supporters,” it states.
With his wild antics and controversial characters, many of Sacha Baron Cohen’s movies aren’t necessarily the type you’d think of as inspiring.
Unless you’re Elon Musk, apparently.
Elon Musk was inspired by a movie for the Starship’s design. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The SpaceX founder openly admitted that he was inspired by Baron Cohen when it came to designing his Starship spacecraft – the world’s ‘most powerful launch vehicle ever developed’.
Developed through SpaceX, Starship took its first flight in April 2023 following years of development and design, which Musk spoke about when he appeared on The Joe Rogan Podcast.
During the interview, Rogan clarified with Musk how he ‘literally told them to make the Starship more pointy’ after seeing one of Baron Cohen’s movies.
The movie in question was the 2012 film The Dictator, in which Baron Cohen plays the titular dictator, Aladeen, who travels to New York in order to address the United Nations Security Council.
In one part of the film, Aladeen inspects the creation of a missile and tells the designers: “It is too round at the top, it needs to be pointy. Round is not scary. Pointy is scary. This will put a smile on the faces of the enemy.”
Upon being questioned by Rogan, Musk agreed that it was Baron Cohen’s movie that had influenced the design of the Starship.
“They know it too,” Musk said, seemingly referring to the designers.
“It’s not like they were unaware of it. I thought it would be funny if we made the rocket more pointy, so we did.”
Baron Cohen’s dictator wanted a pointier rocket. (Paramount Pictures)
Rogan questioned whether making the rocket more pointy had ‘any effect on the aerodynamics’, but Musk assured there was no such impact.
“We can make it way blunter and it would be fine,” he said, though he admitted that it was ‘arguably slightly worse’ for the rocket to be pointy.
“It looks cooler,” he concluded, and many X users couldn’t argue with his decision.
“The funny thing I like about Elon musk is his sense of humor,” one X user wrote, adding: “Recently he admitted space X starship Design ‘pointy’ inspired by the movie ‘The dictator.’
Another wrote: “U know elon musk asked for the starship top to ‘be more pointy’ because of the movie the dictator!!! What a beast of a man.”
Starship, which is made up of the spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket, is designed to be fully reusable.
It is intended to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit and beyond, with locations including ‘the Moon, Mars and beyond’.
Tesla has recalled nearly 700,000 cars after a potentially dangerous fault was discovered.
Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company has found an issue with a portion of its cars, which could see people driving in an automobile which ‘increases the risk of a crash’.
According to the manufacturer, it is the Model 3, Model Y and Cybertruck which are affected by this issue, resulting in a recall letter set to be sent out to customers on February 15 2025.
Thankfully, the issue can be resolved via a free software update, however, until then the issue will persist.
Apparently, there is an issue with the warning light on the tire pressure monitoring system.
Elon Musk’s company needs to recall 700,000 vehicles (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
While there is a problem with the system, it has not yet resulted in any injuries, crashes or deaths of drivers or passengers.
In response, the company is recalling 694,304 of its models according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration letter.
The letter reads: “The tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) warning light may not remain illuminated between drive cycles, failing to warn the driver of low tire pressure.
“Driving with improperly inflated tires increases the risk of a crash.”
This isn’t the first time the manufacturer has had to recall cars. It took back 1.8 million vehicles in July of this year due to a bonnet issue which saw the software issue failing to detect an unlatched hood.
In May, it also recalled 125,000 vehicles because of seat belt issues, and in February, it called back over 2 million vehicles as warning signals showing in a smaller font size.
As well as manufacturing issues, one family has blamed for the death of a 31-year-old on Musk after he crashed his Tesla while using the self-driving ‘autopilot’ technology.
Genesis Giovanni Mendoza Martinez, was crushed to death on February 18, 2023, after using his Tesla’s ‘autopilot’ drive.
The Cybertruck is one of the models with the fault (Tesla)
A lawsuit was filed by Mendoza’s parents, Eduardo and Maria, and his brother Caleb, who were also in the car and injured during the crash.
They stated that it’s Musk’s fault for allowing the ‘ill-equipped’ feature to be used by drivers.
However, Tesla argued that the cars have ‘a reasonably safe design as measured by the appropriate test under the applicable state law’.
Another customer has also pointed out a major flaw in the Cybertruck design which could see headlights completely unable to illuminate the roads, making it a safety hazard.
TikTok user Joe Fay (@jf.okay) said: “So, I found a major flaw in the Cybertruck’s design.”
The Tesla customer explained how the headlights sit at the bottom of the vehicle, which could be a problem.
He explained: “These headlights are amazing and they’re extremely bright. However, that snow is building up right in front of the headlights.
“That can be a major problem when you’re driving in the winter time, because if snow builds up right here, the headlights are going to be completely blocked.”
Joe continued: “Now, I can’t believe Tesla just didn’t think about this when they put this giant shelf in front of the lights, but if they did, it’s honestly an awful design.
“I’ll let you know how driving is in the blizzard. It’s done pretty well so far, and I haven’t noticed that the headlights are getting all clogged up like that.”
