It has been 11 years since Elon Musk's SpaceX completed its first successful rocket test flight, so it's worth taking a look at some of the biggest successes and failures that have followed since. <\/p>\n
Arguably the companys biggest win came when it launched two astronauts into space in May 2020, making it the first time astronauts had flown into orbit on board a rocket built by a private company. <\/p>\n
Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley also became the first astronauts in a decade to blast off into space from US soil, as they spent 19 hours in orbit before docking with the International Space Station (ISS), roughly 250 miles above the Earth. <\/p>\n
Another successful launch saw SpaceX beat the world record for the number of satellites sent to space on a single rocket. <\/p>\n
In January this year, the company sent 143 satellites into space on board its Falcon rocket, beating the previous record by 39 held by an Indian spacecraft since 2017. <\/p>\n
SpaceX has also seen some pretty significant failures revolving around explosions, particularly in the last two years. <\/p>\n
To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.<\/p>\n
In February 2020, the Starship SN1 burst apart during a pressure test at its launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, USA, while undergoing a liquid nitrogen pressure test. <\/p>\n
The midsection of the prototype buckled, then shot upwards before smashing into the ground. <\/p>\n
Just three months later in May, the Starship SN4 had a fiery explosion very soon after a rocket engine test. <\/p>\n
The dramatic failure happened only a minute after a short test of its Raptor rocket engine, but immediately after the explosion it was unclear what caused the conflagration.<\/p>\n
Then in December 2020, the Starship SN8 rocket crashed and exploded in a huge fireball after it narrowly missed its landing pad. <\/p>\n
Dramatic footage showed the unmanned rocket blowing up as it smashed into the ground after having soared to 40,000ft where it managed to collect significant data. <\/p>\n
To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.<\/p>\n
March this year saw the Starship SN10 prototype rocket also burst into flames, exploding just a few minutes after successfully landing on a concrete pad.<\/p>\n
The rocket stood upright on the ground for about 10 minutes before suddenly bursting up with its tail in flames due to a possible methane leak.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here is the original post: <\/p>\n
Inside SpaceXs successes and failures from huge explosions to putting men in space - Daily Star<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It has been 11 years since Elon Musk's SpaceX completed its first successful rocket test flight, so it's worth taking a look at some of the biggest successes and failures that have followed since. Continue reading