SpaceX Starship Spacecraft, Most Powerful Rocket Ever Built, Lost on Atmospheric Reentry

Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s Starship, the biggest and the most powerful rocket ever built, that was launched on March 14, was lost on reentry to the atmosphere, the company has said, according to emerging reports. The rocket took off from a Texas launch pad for the third test flight. At least part of it was lost during atmospheric re-entry.

The previous two launches of Starship manufactured by billionaire Elon Musk’s aerospace firm ended in explosions. Even as the first part of the mega-rocket's journey was a success, the rocket was destroyed after a cruise in low orbit, the company said. The Starship has been estimated to be the size of the US Statue of Liberty. It is integral for NASA’s project to land astronauts on the moon. The rocket launch is crucial for the X Corp and Tesla billionaire Musk as he plans to colonise the red planet Mars.

The SpaceX live webcast showed Starship lifting off from the launch tower site near the city of Brownsville, US. The rocket consisted of a 70-meter-long (230-foot) booster called Super Heavy. Its 50 meter long upper stage was called as Starship. The aerospace firm tweeted the liftoff and the ignition of the powerful Raptor engines for hot staging separation.

The Starship executed the flip manoeuvre approximately 44 miles (72 kilometers) above the Earth.  Both stages are essential for the controlled landing of the rocket into the sea at the end of the space journey. Starship was in space for fifteen minutes then attempted the atmospheric reentry after 50 minutes into space mission.