The colossal rocket from Elon Musk’s space company which aims to take humans to Mars and beyond, soared to the edge of space in its second integrated test flight in mid-November.
However, the historic flight had its challenges. The Starship and the Super Heavy booster exploded in mid-air shortly after the stage separation, creating spectacular fireballs that lit up the sky. The cause of the mishaps was unclear, and many speculated that the flight termination system, a safety mechanism that destroys the rocket if it deviates from the planned trajectory, was triggered.
Two months later, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk finally shed some light on what happened during a company update presentation at Starbase, the launch site and production facility for Starship. He revealed that the world’s heaviest rocket was too light to reach orbit.
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