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Elon Musk’s Crisis: SpaceX Halts Rocket Launches After Explosion of Its Largest Rocket

By Sama Marwan,

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered SpaceX to suspend launches of its Starship rockets. The company, along with the FAA, is conducting investigations into the explosion of its largest rocket shortly after liftoff from a launch site in Texas two days ago.

This incident marks a setback for Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a space technology company valued at $350 billion. The mishap occurred just hours after Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully launched a new large rocket on its maiden test flight.

According to the Financial Times, the FAA stated that it has directed SpaceX to investigate the unfortunate incident that led to the loss of the Starship rocket. The FAA added that there have been no reports of casualties and is collaborating with SpaceX and relevant authorities to verify reports of property damage in the Turks and Caicos region.

The explosion disrupted dozens of airline flights, causing rerouting or delays as a result of debris falling over northern parts of the Caribbean Sea.

Footage circulating on social media shows flaming debris from the rocket clearly falling in fiery streaks.

SpaceX described the event as an “unscheduled rapid disassembly.” Initial data suggests that a fire erupted in the rocket’s rear section, causing debris to fall into the Atlantic Ocean within a predefined hazardous area.

In its statement, SpaceX remarked that the failure serves as a “reminder that development testing is inherently unpredictable.”

Elon Musk responded to video clips of the incident by saying, “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed.”

Despite this setback, SpaceX achieved another milestone with a successful “catch” of a reusable rocket using its giant “Mechazilla” robotic arm system designed for rocket recovery.

In a post on his social media platform X, Musk suggested that the primary failure might have been due to an oxygen or fuel leak in the rocket’s engine walls. He added, “This will likely push the next launch to late next month.”

The FAA emphasized its involvement in every step of SpaceX’s investigation and stated that the final report, including corrective actions, must be approved before operations can resume. It reiterated that no system, process, or procedure related to the incident should compromise public safety.

The explosion occurred shortly after the successful maiden launch of Blue Origin’s smaller “New Glenn” rocket, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Musk’s competitor in the commercial spaceflight market. This launch had been delayed by five years from its original schedule. Bezos wished Musk and SpaceX success in a post on X.

The Financial Times noted that SpaceX became the world’s most valuable private company last month, with a valuation of $350 billion based on employee share sales. This represented a significant jump from its previous valuation of $210 billion six months earlier.

Investors have flocked to support SpaceX, with some attributing its rising valuation to Musk’s close ties with former President Donald Trump, referring to this phenomenon as the “Trump bump” in the valuation of Musk’s ventures.

SpaceX has led the commercial spaceflight industry, achieving milestones aligned with Musk’s ultimate goal of developing reusable rockets and pursuing human expansion into space to exploit resources from other celestial bodies.

Founded in 2002, SpaceX became the first private company to transport humans to the International Space Station in 2020. Last year, SpaceX was called upon to return stranded astronauts from the ISS to Earth.

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