Footage from April 20, 2023 shows the first integrated flight test of Starship, the SpaceX project that won a $3 billion NASA contract to be the lunar lander that will put men on the moon. The initial launch went off without a hitch, but a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" occurred before stage separation.

While Starship wasn't supposed to explode, SpaceX has considered the test launch a success. On Twitter, SpaceX tweeted: "Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting first integrated flight test of Starship! ... With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary."

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Will Killmore

Will Killmore is a US Army combat infantry veteran and Purple Heart recipient. He has deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with the 172nd Stryker Brigade and 173rd Airborne Brigade. Following his time in service, he successfully pursued a certificate of journalism and has been a blogger for Funker530 since 2014. Follow Will’s bad takes on Twitter