United News of Bangladesh

A SpaceX rocket undergoing testing at the company’s Starbase facility in southern Texas exploded late Wednesday, lighting up the night sky with a large fireball. According to SpaceX, the Starship vehicle suffered a “major anomaly” around 11 p.m. while it was stationed on the test stand in preparation for its tenth flight trial. Space station leak concerns can delay astronaut visit from India, Poland, Hungary In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX confirmed that a safety perimeter was in place during the test and that all staff members were safe and accounted for. The company, led by CEO Elon Musk, assured that the explosion posed no risk to nearby communities and advised the public against approaching the area. SpaceX added that it is coordinating with local authorities in response to the incident.  

SpaceX chalked up another failed landing Tuesday for its futuristic, bullet-shaped Starship, as the prototype Mars rocket broke apart right before touchdown. A camera on the rocket froze not quite six minutes into the test flight, and dense fog in South Texas obscured views of the ruptured rocket. Other video showed debris raining down and explosions could be heard. "At least the crater is in the right place!" SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk tweeted. Musk said "something significant" happened shortly after the engine firings for landing: "Should know what it was once we can examine the bits later today." In addition, one of the three engines had trouble during the ascent, he noted. This was the fourth full-scale stainless steel model to launch since December to an altitude of more than 6 miles (10 kilometers). The previous three exploded at touchdown or shortly afterward. The prototype is 164 feet (50 meters) tall. "Another exciting test, as we say," SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker said as he concluded the webcast. A newer version of the rocket has undergone hundreds of design changes, according to Musk. "Hopefully, one of those improvements covers this problem," he said. SpaceX plans to use Starship to send astronauts and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars. Musk said earlier this month that SpaceX will be landing Starships on Mars "well before 2030." But he noted that "the really hard threshold is making Mars Base Alpha self-sustaining." Musk has named the launch and landing area at the southeastern tip of Texas, near the Mexico border, Starbase. A few hour after Tuesday's fiasco, he urged people to move to the area, saying on Twitter that he's looking to hire several thousand people over the next year or two — engineers, technicians, builders, workers of all sorts. He said he's also donating millions to the local school district and nearby city of Brownsville.

The U.S. private space company SpaceX launched its third batch of 60 Starlink satellites into space on Monday, in an effort to build a 12,000-strong or even more satellite network capable of providing broadband internet services.