SpaceX didn’t want to blow up its launchpad. It may have done just that.
Videos shared on social media showed debris slamming into a van several hundred feet away and striking the nearby beach and the shoreline as if they were a war zone.
By Christian DavenportWhy SpaceX’s Starship explosion is a low-key success
The sheer scale of Starship, which is deemed the world’s most powerful rocket, and its successful liftoff is a feat in itself.
By Anumita KaurIn photos: The scene as the unmanned Space X Starship explodes
SpaceX’s Starship lifted off the pad in Southern Texas and cleared the launchpad, its first milestone, but then began tumbling as it was preparing for stage separation and the vehicle came apart some four minutes into flight.
By Washington Post StaffFour minutes till failure: Watch SpaceX’s Starship come apart in flight
On Thursday, SpaceX’s Starship was about four minutes into flight when it exploded. See what we know happened so far.
By Adriana Usero and Christian DavenportSpaceX’s Starship lifts off successfully, but explodes in first flight
Still, it was widely hailed as a success, with congratulations coming from NASA.
By Christian DavenportSee the tests of SpaceX’s Starship prototypes that ended in fireballs
Elon Musk's SpaceX is expected to attempt to launch its fully stacked Starship as soon as this week. Take a look back at the rocket's test flights.
By Christian Davenport and Jonathan BaranUnmanned Starship explodes over gulf after liftoff
The first effort was stopped moments before blast off by a frozen valve.
By Christian DavenportMysterious spiral over Alaska probably a result of SpaceX launch
Researchers say the event was probably caused by excess fuel released during the launch.
By Kasha PatelDespite bankruptcy, Virgin Orbit CEO says company will launch again
After filing for Chapter 11, the company founded by Richard Branson is looking for a suitor to rescue it.
By Christian DavenportA retired satellite is plummeting to Earth. But don’t panic, NASA says.
NASA expects the 660-pound RHESSI satellite, which once observed the sun, to plunge through the atmosphere on Wednesday night and fall to Earth.
By Ellen FrancisSpaceX will try again to launch Starship on Thursday
A valve on the rocket’s first stage apparently froze, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, leading to a pressurization issue.
By Christian DavenportSpaceX scrubs Starship test launch after valve freezes
The scrub was announced minutes before the launch of what would be the world's most powerful rocket.
By Christian DavenportSpaceX’s launch of Starship could remake space exploration
Powered by a staggering 33 first-stage engines, Starship and its booster are expected to have nearly twice the thrust of NASA's SLS moon rocket.
By Christian DavenportInside the rockets that NASA and SpaceX plan to send to the moon
In the way they are manufactured, financed and designed to work, NASA’s SLS and SpaceX’s Starship represent two very different approaches.
By William Neff, Aaron Steckelberg and Christian DavenportFAA grants SpaceX a license to launch its Starship rocket
The license paves the way for a maiden flight for the vehicle that could come as soon as Monday.
By Christian DavenportSee the sharpest image yet of a supermassive black hole
The image can help theorists better understand the physics of black holes, while the technology used to create it can be applied to other types of research.
By Joel AchenbachHow NASA’s astronauts learned they’d been assigned to the moon mission
None of the astronauts selected for the first mission to the vicinity of the moon in five decades were on time for what is probably the biggest assignment of their astronaut careers.
By Christian DavenportNASA names crew for first human moon mission since Apollo
The astronauts will fly around the moon in a mission that would precede the first human landing there since 1972.
By Christian DavenportVirgin Orbit to lay off 85 percent of staff, freeze operations
The rocket company failed to secure enough money from investors to continue funding its operations at the current level.
By Aaron GreggVirginia Norwood, pioneered Earth imagery as ‘Mother of Landsat,’ dies at 96
A male colleague once quit rather than work under Ms. Norwood's leadership. When he asked to return, she turned him down.
By Brian Murphy