Chunks of concrete ejected, metal bent and craters dug into the ground: the force of the first liftoff of SpaceX’s new rocket, Starship has seriously damaged its launch pad in Texas.
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The damage caused will likely take several months to be repaired. They could delay the next test flights and the development of this rocket, both the largest and the most powerful in the world, on which NASA relies to return its astronauts to the Moon.
Before Thursday’s test flight, SpaceX boss Elon Musk’s only wish was “not to destroy the launch pad.” After taking off, the 120-meter-tall rocket finally exploded after four minutes of flight, above the sea.
The gigantic launch tower withstood the shock. The huge base on which the vehicle rests (launch table) is also still there, even if it has been damaged. But under him, a deep crater has been dug, according to images published by specialists on social networks.
Fill the crater
All around reigns a landscape of desolation, noted an AFP photographer. During takeoff, a shower of debris was catapulted into the nearby sea, SpaceX video shows. A cloud of dust reached a small town several kilometers away, according to local press.
“The radius of debris and nuisance was probably greater than anyone anticipated,” Olivier de Weck, a professor in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, told AFP.
In images, in pictures: In pictures: Starship, the world’s largest rocket took off before exploding in flight
“The main damage from the launch pad is below where the flames [des moteurs] attack the ground,” explained Olivier de Weck. “The crater that has been created is going to have to be filled in and repaired and that will definitely take several months.”
NASA’s new mega-rocket, SLS, which took off for the first time in November from Florida, had also caused damage, in particular putting the elevators of its launch tower out of service.
