Elon Musk and his team at SpaceX has had one goal in mind since the beginning: To put a man on Mars.  A big part of that puzzle is a rocket that would functionally not only put a man on Mars but return them to Earth safely.  Originally called the BFR, (which stands for exactly what you think it does, Big F***ing Rocket) Starship has been in development for the last several years, and once completed, will be the biggest rocket to ever fly, even bigger than the Saturn V rocket which put a man on the moon.

While there have been tests on Starship up until this point, today’s test took Starship to the highest it has been thus far, about 12.5 km up. The rocket was intended to launch to that height, perform a few maneuvers and then return to attempt a landing at the launch site.  The rocket, unfortunately, exploded on landing, likely due to an engine failure at the last moment, but the likelihood of a successful landing had already been ruled as extremely low.

#SpaceX's Starship test flight ends in an explosive fireball at touchdown
🚀💥 pic.twitter.com/QGAeqUYHEf

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 10, 2020

NEW: Unmanned SpaceX Starship test flight explodes during landing. There was no one on board the ship. https://t.co/tagzR9e9CJ pic.twitter.com/mvdZvvD2dD

— ABC News (@ABC) December 9, 2020

This is sci-fi to reality! An epic #Starship #SN8 testflight 🤯 we have lost our minds @SpaceX @elonmusk @Erdayastronaut 🎞️📷 https://t.co/pm7BLvaLYT pic.twitter.com/9zYfnd3yjD

— Cosmic Perspective (@considercosmos) December 10, 2020

Spectators on South Padre Island watch the Starship prototype end its test flight in a fiery crash landing. Video: Isis Valencia/Spaceflight Now. pic.twitter.com/67BKxoFbda

— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) December 10, 2020

A big congrats to Elon Musk and his SpaceX team on what appears to be a very successful test.  Ip next will be SN9, the next variant of the rocket to test, which would lead to a successful landing this next time.  Amazing none the less!  We truly live in amazing times!