Washington, Nov 18: SpaceX launched its mega rocket Starship on Saturday, but lost the booster and then the spacecraft minutes into the test flight.
The booster had sent the rocketship toward space, but communication was lost eight minutes after liftoff from South Texas and SpaceX declared that the vehicle had failed.
The trouble cropped up as the ship's engines were almost done firing to put it on an around-the-world path. Minutes earlier, the booster exploded, but not until its job was done, putting the ship on a course toward space.
At 400 feet, Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built.
The first test flight in April ended in an explosion soon after liftoff.
SpaceX's giant new rocket blasted off from South Texas on a test flight Saturday, seven months after the first try ended in an explosion.
The 397-foot (121-metre) Starship rocket thundered into the sky and arced out over the Gulf of Mexico. The goal was to separate the spaceship from its booster and send it into space.
SpaceX aimed for an altitude of 150 miles (240 kilometers), just high enough to send the bullet-shaped spacecraft around the globe before ditching into the Pacific near Hawaii about 1 1/2 hours after liftoff, short of a full orbit.
Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. Its first flight in April lasted four minutes, with the wreckage crashing into the gulf. Since then, Elon Musk's company has made dozens of improvements to the booster and its 33 engines as well as the launch pad.
Starship liftoff in slow motion pic.twitter.com/PuWMVyU6Lc
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 18, 2023
The booster experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly shortly after stage separation while Starship's engines fired for several minutes on its way to space
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 18, 2023
With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 18, 2023
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New Delhi: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sought assistance from the Indian government to serve a complaint to Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani in an alleged $265 million bribery and fraud case, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The SEC informed a district court in New York that it was attempting to serve the complaint and had requested help from India’s law ministry.
In November, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York indicted Gautam Adani in connection with the case. The US Department of Justice accused executives of the conglomerate of bribing Indian officials for solar energy contracts and misrepresenting anti-bribery practices to US investors. It alleged that details of the bribes were concealed to secure financing.
The Adani Group has denied the allegations and announced plans for legal action. In December, Gautam Adani blamed the media for what he called "incorrect and reckless reporting" on the issue.
While the indictment document outlines conspiracy to obstruct justice and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Adani and his executives were not formally charged under these counts. However, it names Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Cyril Cabanes of Azure Power Global in connection with the alleged bribery scheme.
On November 27, the Adani Group clarified in a stock exchange filing that Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani had been charged with securities fraud, not bribery. The charges led to a significant decline in the group’s market value, with shares losing $54 billion at the time.
On November 29, the Union government stated that it considered the matter a legal issue involving private companies, individuals, and the US Justice Department.
Meanwhile, on February 10, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing prosecutions of Americans accused of bribing foreign officials for business deals. The order temporarily halts enforcement of the FCPA and directs US Attorney General Pam Bondi to review the law’s enforcement guidelines.
The move is seen as a potential relief for the Adani Group, as it could delay or weaken ongoing investigations against its executives.