Spacex Mars rocket prototype explodes

A prototype of Spacex’s Starship rocket exploded during a landing attempt minutes after an experimental launch in Texas on Tuesday, in a repeat of an accident that destroyed a previous test rocket. The Starship SN9 that blew up on its final descent, like the SN8 before it, was a test model of the heavylift rocket being developed by Elon Musk’s private space company for future missions to the moon and Mars. The self-guided rocket initially soared on what appeared to be a flawless liftoff. Reaching its peak altitude of 10km, it then hovered momentarily in midair, shut off its engines and executed a planned “belly-flop” manoeuvre to descend back. The trouble came when it tried to reactivate two of its three thrusters, but one failed to ignite. The rocket then fell rapidly, exploding in a roaring ball of flames.