Elon Musk hails 'exciting' Starship launch despite Space X rocket exploding
Elon Musk has hailed today's historic launch of his $3billion Starship rocket as "exciting" - despite it blowing up shortly after takeoff.
The world's biggest and most powerful rocket ever built took off at 9.28am local time from the southern tip of Texas, near Boca Chica Beach.
Just four minutes after takeoff the SpaceX spacecraft, built to eventually take humans to Mars, explodedas the booster was suppsed to detatch and fall into the Gulf of Mexico.
But taking to Twitter, SpaceX chief and Tesla billionaire Mr Musk praised the launch, saying: "Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!"
The command team including Musk watching the launchHe confirmed there would be another test launch in just a few months, saying: "Learned a lot for the next test launch in a few months."
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He had previously said "anything that does not result in the destruction of the launch pad itself" would be considered a "win".
The tech billionaire also took to Twitter to share a video of the launch.
A relatively close up view of the rocket shows engines shooting out flames as the rocket lifts off, leaving plumes of billowing smoke and dust around.
SpaceX described the explosion as a "rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation."
The $3billion Starship rocket is designed to take humans to Mars.
Though the rocket launched successfully and made it into the air, it was when the booster tried to separate from the upper section that things went wrong.
The whole rocket was seen spinning before exploding in a massive ball of fire.
Images showed multiple engines to not be working on the 33-engine rocket as it climbed from the launch pad - reaching 24 miles (39 kilometres) in height.
After the separation, the spacecraft was due to continue east, attempting to circle the world, before crashing into the Pacific near Hawaii.
This launch saw the first-stage rocket booster, Super Heavy, taking to the skies for the first time.
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SpaceX weren't going to attempt any landings of the rocket or spacecraft with this flight.
The SpaceX Starship rocket at launch (SpaceX)Crowds of spectators gathered to watch from South Padre Island, just several miles from the Boca Chica Beach launch site.
The launch site itself was off limits to the public, but those gathered at South Padre Island were heard screaming: "Go, baby, go!"
At a Twitter Spaces event, Mr Musk explained: "It's the first launch of a very complicated, gigantic rocket, so it might not launch.
"We're going to be very careful, and if we see anything that gives us concern, we will postpone the launch.
"If we do launch, I would consider anything that does not result in the destruction of the launch pad itself to be a win."
The Starship rocket was loaded with more than 4,500 metric tonnes (10 million pounds) of propellant, according to SpaceX.
The company plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon, and eventually, to Mars.
NASA has reserved a Starship rocket for its next moonwalking team, and welathy tourists have already booked lunar flybys in what may become the next luxury destination.
Speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference last month, Mr Musk said: "I'm not saying it will get to orbit, but I am guaranteeing excitement. It won't be boring.
"I think it's got, I don't know, hopefully about a 50 per cent chance of reaching orbit."
The launch was set to be an unmanned test flight around the world of SpaceX's huge Starship - the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built.
Musk's company got the go ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday, April 14, for the launch.
There was due to be a takeoff attempt on Monday, April 17, however this was called off.
The launch was cancelled with just minutes left on the countdown after a "pressurisation" problem was discovered.
The SpaceX team watches and cheers the launchTheir test flight on Thursday, April 20, was still hailed a success, despite the rocket exploding high in the atmosphere.
A SpaceX spokesperson said: "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship expereinced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation.
"Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test.
"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's test will help us improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary.
"Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting first integrated flight test of Starship!"
Standing at 394 feet and with almost 17 million pounds of thrust, Starship surpasses NASA's moon rockets - past, present, and future.
In a push for sustainability, the stainless steel rocket is designed to be fully reusable with fast turnaround - lowering costs dramatically.
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