Watch how SpaceX's fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket launches during a test flight but failed to separate and ended with Rapid Unplanned Disassembly (RUD) a few minutes into flight.
Credit: SpaceX
Credit: SpaceX
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TechTranscript
00:00I can't believe it again.
00:20T-minus 15 seconds.
00:2210, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3...
00:52No response on operations.
01:02Booster after chamber pressure is nominal.
01:09T-plus 43 seconds into the test flight of the inaugural Starship vehicle.
01:14Tower cleared to land a pitch over.
01:16Propulsion reports first stage engines nominal.
01:20What a sight when the ground cameras at Starbase.
01:23We're flying at twice the thrust of a Saturn V heading to space.
01:35We're throttled down and throttled back up.
01:40Going through the period of maximum aerodynamic pressure.
01:50As the velocity increases, the density of the atmosphere is decreasing,
01:54lessening stress on the vehicle.
01:56The call-out, Max Q now.
02:06Continuing to watch the first stage as we head downrange.
02:16100 seconds into flight.
02:20Our next major activity is going to be shutdown of the first stage.
02:25Houston tracking station now acquiring the vehicle.
02:29With shutdown, we will get separation of Starship from Super Heavy
02:33and ignition of the Starship engines.
02:36When Starship separates, we light up six engines in a staggered sequence.
02:41If all goes well, those six engines will burn for almost six and a half minutes.
02:46Onboard view from Starship.
02:50And there's views of the Raptor engines on the second stage
02:54as we prepare for stage separation.
02:57Now after stage separation, the first stage will flip
03:00and begin a boost-back maneuver for landing in the Gulf.
03:14Continuing to fly.
03:16Continuing to fly. Two minutes, 40 seconds.
03:18Let's get ready for main engine cutoff.
03:25Beginning to flip for stage separation.
03:46As of right now, we are awaiting stage separation.
04:04Where Starship should separate from the Super Heavy booster.
04:12Right now, it looks like we saw the start of the flip,
04:15but obviously we're seeing from the ground cameras
04:17the entire Starship stack continuing to rotate.
04:20We should have had separation by now.
04:22Obviously, this does not appear to be a nominal situation.
04:27Yeah, it does appear to be spinning,
04:29but I do want to remind everyone that
04:31everything after clearing the tower was icing on the cake.
04:36And there, as you saw, as we promised,
04:47an exciting end to the Starship inaugural integrated test flight.
05:06Everyone here absolutely pumped to clear the pad
05:10and make it this far into the test flight,
05:12the first integrated flight of the booster and the Starship vehicle.
05:18Live view there of our control center at Starbase,
05:22which we refer to as Star Command.
05:27As we said before, obviously we wanted to make it all the way through,
05:32but to get this far, honestly, is amazing.
05:36Well, if you're just joining us,
05:38Starship just experienced what we call
05:40a rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent.
05:45But now this was a development test.
05:47This is the first test flight of Starship,
05:49and the goal was to gather the data,
05:51and as we said, clear the pad and get ready to go again.
05:55So you never know exactly what's going to happen,
05:57but as we promised, excitement is guaranteed.
06:00And Starship gave us a rather spectacular end
06:03to what was truly an incredible test thus far.
06:06As we mentioned at the start of today's program,
06:10any and all the data that we collected during the test
06:13is going to help us with further development of Starship,
06:16and it's going to improve the vehicle's reliability
06:18as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary.
06:21It's really worth noting that the flight path
06:23was designed to be over water and all the air and sea space,
06:27along with that flight path and those surrounding areas,
06:29were cleared in advance of the test.
06:31And of course, we're going to be coordinating
06:33with local authorities for the recovery operations.
06:36But honestly, what an exciting morning.
06:39Oh my gosh.
06:41We had a successful liftoff from Starbase, Texas
06:44at 8.28 a.m. Central Time.
06:47We cleared the tower, which honestly was our only hope.
06:52We cleared the tower, and all the data that we collected
06:55all the way through all those Raptor, those 33,
06:59although I think we saw that three Raptor engines were out.
07:02But we got all that data, and we got so far as to
07:06hoping to see the Starship, the second stage,
07:10separate from the first stage, the super-heavy booster.
07:13And unfortunately, we didn't make that happen, but that's okay.
07:16It was the first integrated launch,
07:19and honestly, today was amazing.
07:22Absolutely incredible day.
07:24We made it through a number of those initial test objectives
07:28with getting booster ascent, getting all the way through
07:31the countdown, working some issues at the end.
07:33Like, really fantastic day.
07:35Got through the gate at T-minus 40 seconds on the second try.
07:38Everything released, the holddowns, quick disconnect arms,
07:41everything moves out of the way.
07:43And then we got the vehicle off the pad, through Max-Q,
07:46all the way up to stage separation,
07:48even starting into the prep for stage set.
07:50And then, as we say, a lot of excitement.
07:53Honestly, my face has had a smile on it since liftoff,
07:57and now my face hurts.
07:59Now, since we don't have any insights on the cause of
08:02our rapid, unscheduled disassembly at this point,
08:05we're going to end our webcast here.
08:07Teams will continue to review the data
08:09and work toward our next flight test.
08:11But before we go, a big congrats to the entire SpaceX team
08:15on an exciting first integrated flight test of Starship.
08:18And, of course, a shout-out to our viewers.
08:20We appreciate you joining us.
08:22And, as always, we thank you for your interest in Starship,
08:25SpaceX, and your ongoing support.