Before the April 20th launch of SpaceX’s new ‘Starship’ rocket, boss Elon Musk stated that he “would consider anything that does not result in the destruction of the launch mount itself … to be a win.”
Well, Starship lifted off successfully, soaring into the sky for about four minutes before multiple engines malfunctioned and a separation failure triggered the rocket’s self-destruct mechanism. As for the launch mount, well, it has seen better days.
This is what happens to your launchpad when you think it would be funny to launch to the world's largest rocket on 4/20, instead of when it's ready.
— Christopher David (@Tazerface16) April 21, 2023
It will probably be at least a year before the FAA will approve another Starship launch. pic.twitter.com/tXytW309a6
According to Olivier de Weck, a professor of astronautics and engineering at MIT, the launch pad crater "will take several months" to repair. "The main damage to the launch pad is underneath, where the flames impinge on the ground," he said. “The radius of debris and disturbance was probably bigger than anybody anticipated."
Holy Cats! They *did* destroy their launch pad after all! Tbh, shortly after the vehicle cleared (what was left of) the Tower, they showed the engine carriage, and it was *obvious* not everything fired as planned. #FzckingElmo. pic.twitter.com/5bk8fiY2YO
— vanmojo (@vanmojo) April 21, 2023
For Starship’s launch, SpaceX used a concrete launch pad without water deluge or flame trenches; systems NASA typically uses to dissipate force on larger rocket launches. Even Elon himself reflected on the use of a concrete pad.
Still early in analysis, but the force of the engines when they throttled up may have shattered the concrete, rather than simply eroding it. The engines were only at half thrust for the static fire test.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2023
According to a different Tweet, SpaceX was developing a water-cooled, steel plate to go under the concrete, but didn’t have it ready in time for launch. Perhaps Elon’s supposed desire to make an April 20th launch date was too ambitious. It’s a shame that the biggest blaze on 4/20 turned out to be his rocket and its busted launch pad.
Here's where they eventually ended up.
— Christopher David (@Tazerface16) April 21, 2023
8 out of 33 engines failed, for a reliability rate of 75%.
That's super, super bad. pic.twitter.com/JnCy0Yrpky
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