The "Starship" (Starship) exploded over the Gulf of Mexico about 4 minutes after its first liftoff on the 20th of this month, causing serious damage to the Texas launch site.

(Reuters)

(CNA) Scattering shards of concrete, twisted metal panels, giant crater-like holes...these are just some of the things that SpaceX's most powerful rocket "Starship" has ever seen after a test flight last week Wreak havoc at the Texas launch site.

Agence France-Presse reported that the "Starship" (Starship) exploded over the Gulf of Mexico about 4 minutes after its first lift-off on the 20th of this month. It is expected that it will take months to repair the damage caused by the test flight, which may lead to future test flights. The delays have slowed NASA's plans to develop a rocket for its upcoming mission to the Moon.

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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said before the test flight that as long as the "starship" can be launched without destroying the launch pad, it can be called a "victory".

The rocket capsule was originally scheduled to separate from the first stage of the rocket booster 3 minutes after launch, but the separation was unsuccessful, and it caught fire and disintegrated at an altitude of nearly 32 kilometers.

Before the test flight, SpaceX engineers may also have underestimated the damage that the 33 Raptor engines on the first thruster could cause.

Days after the test launch, an AFP photographer saw the desolation surrounding the launch pad.

The video released by SpaceX shows that during the take-off process, a large number of debris was blown up as far as 420 meters into the Gulf of Mexico.

According to local media, a cloud of smoke appeared over a small town a few kilometers away.

Photos of the launch site show that the huge launch tower is still standing, and the rocket mounts are damaged but largely intact.

However, photos on social media showed a huge pothole beneath the launch pad.

Musk acknowledged on Twitter on the 22nd: "When the engine revs up, the force may smash the concrete, not just erode."

"The radius of the debris and interference zone could be larger than anyone expected," Olivier de Weck, a professor of aerospace and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told AFP.

"The main damage to the launch pad is below, where the flames hit the ground," and repairing the crater "will take months," he said.