Closeup Shots Of SpaceX's Starship Rocket Launch Before It Blew Up Are Stunning
![hero spacex starship launch](https://images.hothardware.com/contentimages/newsitem/63131/content/hero-spacex-starship-launch.jpg)
The company hoped Starship would have been able to successfully orbit Earth before landing in the Pacific Ocean. However, about eight minutes into the flight, a camera view seemed to show the Starship booster experiencing an explosion. At the time of the explosion, the rocket had reached an altitude of 91 miles (148km).
"We have lost the data from the second stage... we think we may have lost the second stage," remarked SpaceX engineer and livestream host John Insprucker. He added that engineers thought an automated flight termination command was triggered to destroy the rocket, but ground control was not clear as to why it happened.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2023
Not to be outdone, SpaceX shared its images of the event. In one tweet, a tracking camera view of the hot-staging separation was captured in four images.
![tweet starship separation](https://images.hothardware.com/contentimages/newsitem/63131/content/tweet-starship-separation.jpg)
The clock is ticking, however, as one investor pointed out. Chad Anderson, a SpaceX investor and managing partner of venture capital firm Space Capital, remarked, "NASA has a timeline where they're trying to get to the moon, and this is their primary vehicle to do it. So SpaceX needs to deliver on a timeline."
The US Federal Aviation Administration confirmed a mishap occurred that "resulted in a loss of the vehicle." The FAA did add that no personal or property damage had been reported.
Investors expect the cadence of test flights of Starship to increase next year. Jaret Matthews, CEO of Astrolab, commented, "They have the next number of vehicles already lined up in the factory ready to go. I think people will be shocked by the cadence that emerges next year."