SpaceX Starship lands upright, then explodes in latest test

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX’s futuristic Starship looked like it aced a touchdown Wednesday, but then exploded on the landing pad with so much force that it was hurled into the air.

The failure occurred just minutes after SpaceX declared success.

The full-scale prototype soared more than 6 miles (10 kilometers) after lifting off from the southern tip of Texas. It descended horizontally over the Gulf of Mexico and then flipped upright just in time to land.

Unlike the previous two test flights, the shiny bullet-shaped rocketship remained intact this time at touchdown, prompting SpaceX commentator John Insprucker to declare, “third time’s a charm as the saying goes.”

But then the Starship exploded and was tossed upward, before slamming down into the ground in flames. There was no immediate comment from SpaceX on what went wrong.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk plans to use Starships to send people to the moon and Mars.

The last two prototypes reached a similarly high altitude in December and February, but slammed into the ground at Boca Chica, Texas, and exploded.

Each of these last three test flights lasted 6 1/2 minutes.

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