The Facts
Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft Thursday enjoyed a clean liftoff before exploding minutes later. The rocket made it just 23 miles into the air.
The unpiloted flight of the most powerful rocket ever built lasted more than two minutes before it experienced what a SpaceX engineer called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent.”
The Spin
Narrative A
This was an amazing accomplishment by SpaceX, even with the explosion. No one was expecting perfection this time around, but the company’s plans are still on track. With numerous Starship vehicles in production, we could see another test flight soon, and in a few years, we might see manned flights. If anyone’s going to get humans to Mars, it’s Musk and SpaceX.
Narrative B
This launch might be a cause to celebrate, but it’s also a reason not to rush to the next launch without first assessing what went wrong and what needs to be done to continue to assure public safety is protected. That might even mean some form of federal regulation of commercial spaceflight programs.
