Video of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship exploding during second orbital launch goes viral

On Friday, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, Starship, took off from the surface of Earth in its second orbital launch attempt.

The historic launch marks the second time SpaceX's Starship has attempted to reach orbit, and while the launch did end with the Starship vehicle exploding, it was deemed a success as many mission objectives were reached. Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket, and during its development phase, there will be catastrophic failures. With each failure, more is learned about how to fly such a massive rocket (394 ft fully stacked), with the ultimate goal being able to send Starship to orbit and safely back down to the surface of Earth reliably - much like Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.

The first orbital launch attempt took place on April 20, 2023, and Starship was unable to complete hot-staging, or the part of the mission where the first stage, or booster (called Super Heavy), separates from the second stage, Starship. That was the main objective of the second orbital launch attempt, and SpaceX was able to achieve a safe separation, continuing the mission for many minutes until a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD) was initiated.

The above video showcases the best angle I have found of the RUD, or more simply, explosion.

• Read more: SpaceX hit major milestones with second Starship orbital launch that exploded mid-air
• Read more: Snoop Dogg quitting smoking has actually affected weed on the stock market
• Read more: 'Devil comet' racing toward Earth violently erupts shooting out ice and gas into space