Sharjah24 - AFP: The Texas launch site was severely damaged by SpaceX's maiden test flight of Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, which sent flying bits of concrete, twisted metal sheets, and deep holes into the earth.
Repairing the damage from Thursday's unmanned test flight is expected to take months, potentially delaying further launch attempts and slowing the development of a rocket NASA plans to use on its upcoming Moon missions.
SpaceX boss Elon Musk had said before the test that just getting Starship in the air without destroying its launch pad would be "a win."
Luckily for Musk, the 390-foot-tall (120-meter) rocket successfully lifted off, climbing for about four minutes until it tumbled and exploded, well over the Gulf of Mexico.
But SpaceX engineers may have underestimated the damage that Starship's 33 first-stage rocket engines would do.
During takeoff, SpaceX video showed a hail of debris being blasted as far as the Gulf of Mexico, over 1,400 feet (420 meters) away. According to local press reports, a cloud of dust floated over a small town several miles (kilometers) away.
Photos of the launch site show the gigantic launch tower still standing while the rocket mount, which supports Starship before liftoff, damaged but still intact.
Beneath it, however, lies a huge crater, images posted on social media showed.
"The force of the engines when they throttled up may have shattered the concrete, rather than simply eroding it," Musk conceded Saturday on Twitter -- another company in his portfolio.
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