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Elon Musk's Starship Rocket Explodes Just Minutes After Liftoff—And Twitter Brought The Jokes

SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded only minutes after liftoff in Texas, though the company called it a 'rapid, unscheduled disassembly,' and Twitter users couldn't wait to mock Elon Musk about it.

AB Keith

Apr. 21, 2023

ustin Sullivan/Getty Images; @Dexerto/Twitter

Elon Musk must have been more than pleased with himself that one of his ideas finally took off.

Sadly for the Twitter CEO, however, it blew up in his face.

Yesterday, Elon Musk's SpaceX launched Starship, the largest rocket to launch in history.

\u201cLiftoff of Starship!\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681997634

But it didn't make it very far before experiencing a sort of explosion.

\u201cElon Musk\u2019s Starship rocket experienced an explosion after successfully launching for the first time ever \n\n\u201d
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) 1681998097

Ouch.

\u201cWhen you are the one paying for it. #SpaceX #StarshipLaunch\u201d
— Jurian Ubachs (@Jurian Ubachs) 1681998141

And while many of us consider this a fail on SpaceX's part, Musk's muttons celebrated the launch.

\u201c\ud83d\udc68\ud83c\udffb\u200d\ud83d\udd27Never mistake trial for failure. As you say in #BocaChica, \u201cit\u2019s not an explosion, it\u2019s just rapid unscheduled disassembly.\u201d Congrats \ud83d\ude0e @SpaceX on this #Starship launch! #SpaceX\u201d
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thomas Pesquet) 1681999707

\u201cWatching @elonmusk Starship explode feels a lot like the creator journey. \n\nPour in time. Get zero 'results'. But you're getting valuable data in exchange. \n\nEarly on this is the trade. But eventually the data will lead to your breakthrough. \n\nWe're playing a long-term game.\u201d
— Nova Richards \ud83e\ude90| Slow Hustler (@Nova Richards \ud83e\ude90| Slow Hustler) 1681998630

Even SpaceX tweeted about the excitement of the liftoff and subsequent explosion, calling it "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

\u201cAs if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

SpaceX continued with a string of tweets explaining the data from the launch test will contribute to the future of "multi-planetary life."

\u201cTeams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

\u201cWith a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today\u2019s test will help us improve Starship\u2019s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

They then congratulated the team on an "exciting first integrated flight test of Starship!"

\u201cCongratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting first integrated flight test of Starship!\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

Musk shared images of the launch and echoed the sentiments made by SpaceX.

\u201cCongrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!\n\nLearned a lot for next test launch in a few months.\u201d
— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1681999205

While the launch was certainly exciting, many on Twitter could not get past the chosen terminology "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

\u201c@SpaceX Do you mean it exploded?\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

\u201c@RScowler @SpaceX Yep. But a helluva lot of fanboys are here to tell you it was a great success.\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

\u201c@RScowler @SpaceX In a rapid and unscheduled fashion\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

\u201c@SpaceX Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD); what a polite way of saying that the Starship has exploded. \n\n"There are two types of people in this world: those who have failed and those who will fail. It's a universal experience. But it's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you.\u2026\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

@halborski/Twitter

\u201c@MonkeysArmy2023 @SpaceX If your were trying to blow it up then yes it was a success, if you were just trying to get it into space then probably not so much.\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

\u201c@MonkeysArmy2023 @SpaceX no it's a failure\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

\u201c@SpaceX \ud83e\udd14\ud83e\udd14 Just say it malfunctioned & blew up.. Part of rocketry. Better luck next time..\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

\u201c@SpaceX The fanciest word for explosion lol\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

Some even thought the test was quite metaphorical...

\u201c@SpaceX Yeah just like this app since Elon took over\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

\u201c@SpaceX Just like twitter you mean?\u201d
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 1681998131

\u201cA Space X rocket goes\ud83d\udca5? Very on brand, Elon.\u201d
— Paul Leigh 'Some Rascal on the Internet' \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Paul Leigh 'Some Rascal on the Internet' \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1682000933

Well, if Musk's tweet is legit, we'll see round two in just a few months, hopefully sans the RUD.

Congrats, SpaceX... maybe? We're honestly not sure.

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Elon Musk's Starship Rocket Explodes Just Minutes After Liftoff—And Twitter Brought The Jokes

SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded only minutes after liftoff in Texas, though the company called it a 'rapid, unscheduled disassembly,' and Twitter users couldn't wait to mock Elon Musk about it.