---
title: "Elon Musk Explains Why Starship Launch Ended in Huge Explosion"
description: "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk chimes in on the space company's mostly successful Starship high-altitude test flight. \"Mars, here we come!!\""
date: "2020-12-09"
modified: "2020-12-09"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-reaction-spacex-starship-explosion"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "Starship"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "mars"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "Starship"
  - "the digest"
---

# Elon Musk Explains Why Starship Launch Ended in Huge Explosion

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/elon-musk-reaction-spacex-incredible-starship-fireball.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: SpaceX\</em\>*

## Big Boom

It was a sight to behold: SpaceX's SN8 Starship prototype just carried out its first high-altitude launch test, which mostly seemed to go pretty well — until the end, when it smashed into the ground in a [spectacular fireball](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starship-explodes-spectacular-fireball>).

But CEO Elon Musk seems to be taking the failure in stride. After all, even when a rocket explodes, the engineers behind it can extract valuable data.

"Mars, here we come!!" Musk [tweeted](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1336810077555019779>) immediately following the explosion.

## Failure Analysis

In many ways, the test was a resounding success, with the structure effortlessly rocketing into the air, flipping onto its side, and controlling its descent using its aerodynamic flaps.

"Successful ascent, switchover to header tanks & precise flap control to landing point!" Musk [tweeted](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1336808486022258688>).

Starship is the company's flagship heavy-lift rocket that is meant to one day carry up to 100 passengers to faraway destinations, including the Moon and Mars.

## Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly

So what caused the explosion back on the pad?

"Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & \[rapid unscheduled disassembly\], but we got all the data we needed!" Musk [wrote](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1336809767574982658>).

Overall, it seemed like the mercurial billionaire was in high spirits. Before the test, he [had estimated](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1336141388379873282>) that the flight had only a one-third chance of total success.

"Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!" Musk added.

**More on the launch:** [SpaceX Starship Explodes in Spectacular Fireball](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starship-explodes-spectacular-fireball>)

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)