Elon Musk Entertainment: Just hours after Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin completed its first orbiter mission, SpaceX also launched its mission on Thursday. Starship conducted the upper stage blowing test of its next generation megarocket over the Atlantic. However, his team lost contact with the upper stage vehicle. A longer, upgraded version of the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built launched for its seventh test at 4:37 pm (2237 GMT) from the company’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. About seven minutes after liftoff, the Super Heavy booster slowed to supersonic speed and exploded in midair.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 17, 2025
Several users on X shared footage, which purportedly captured the spacecraft breaking up during re-entry into the atmosphere. Instead of wallowing in the sadness of failure, Musk also shared a video on X and posted, “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”
Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!
pic.twitter.com/nn3PiP8XwG— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
Now there will be a race in space
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin’s giant New Glenn rocket reached orbital space for the first time overnight, marking a potential turning point in the commercial space race. So far, Musk’s SpaceX has dominated long-term orbital launches with its Falcon 9 rocket, winning contracts from private companies, the Pentagon and NASA. In contrast, Blue Origin was limited to short hop sub-orbital flights with its smaller New Shepard rocket. Blue Origin now looks ready to take SpaceX’s market share through New Glenn. However, both the tech giants have had a controversial past. Musk congratulated Bezos “on reaching orbit on his first try”, and a few hours later Bezos returned the compliment. “Good luck today @ElonMusk and the entire SpaceX team!!” the Amazon founder wrote on SpaceX ahead of the launch.
Good luck today @elonmusk and the whole spacex team!!
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 16, 2025
SpaceX has made it clear that it sees Starship as its future. According to Payload Research, the cost of the test flights is currently approximately $90 million. However, Musk aims to reduce this to $10 million per launch.
Now Musk will test continuously
SpaceX’s first three test flights ended in dramatic explosions and the destruction of its launch vehicles. However, SpaceX has worked quickly on its design, reflecting its “fail fast, learn fast” philosophy. Musk has now set a target of continuous testing. They have requested permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct 25 tests in 2025, while only four tests were conducted in 2024. The Federal Aviation Administration is holding public meetings on potential environmental and regulatory concerns amid allegations that SpaceX is damaging ecologically sensitive areas and violating wastewater rules, but Musk is now on Trump’s team. In such a situation, there is little possibility of Musk refusing.
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