Boca Chica (Texas) [USA], Mar 3 : Private space launch leader SpaceX recently suffered a setback when a ground test of its upcoming Starship spacecraft ended up in a violent implosion.
According to The Verge, the test that took place at SpaceX's Boca Chika facility in Texas involved filling the test article with cryogenically chilled propellant.
As the vehicle was loaded with the super-chilled space juice, the structure collapsed on itself and shot up a good distance in the air before crashing back on the ground.Although an impressive spectacle -- as evident from a YouTube video -- this is not exactly how Musk would want his super rocket to go airborne.
Musk, the man himself, laughed off the unscheduled launch on his official Twitter account where he shared a video of the incident with the caption "So ... how was your night?"
The footage clearly shows that the test vehicle was damaged beyond repair, however, Musk in his own cheeky style of humour went on to comment on his own post that "It's fine, we'll just buff it out".
Musk blamed the failure to a malfunctioning thrust "puck" fitted at the base of the vehicle, which takes the majority of the "thrust load".
The spaceman further announced on Twitter that his company will test another Starship prototype within the next few days, reported The Verge.
( With inputs from ANI )