Boca Chica (DPA) – After two failures, a prototype of the new “starship” rocket landed safely for the first time on a test flight by private space company SpaceX – and only then exploded.

During testing in the US state of Texas, which the company broadcast live, the unmanned rocket landed safely on the ground shortly after takeoff – and then went up in flames minutes later.

Why the missile exploded was not initially clear. “The main goal of today’s flight was to collect enough data on how to control the spacecraft,” said SpaceX engineer John Inspucker. “And we’ve successfully achieved it.” Hours before the planned start in the first attempt. A fraction of a second was removed at first, but the engineers decided to try again after some time.

In the last two tests in December and February, the landing did not work. In December, an explosion occurred on landing due to a problem with the fuel system, in February, a prototype fell to the ground apparently uncontrolled due to a technical malfunction at the test site and trapped in a fireball. SpaceX intends to use test flights to test individual parts of the rocket.

As planned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the “starship” rocket will one day transport goods and people to the moon and Mars. Special feature: It should be fully reusable. To achieve this, he has to perform a turn in the air and then return to the ground in a controlled manner. Rockets should also be used where there are neither launch ramps nor ideal landing sites – for example on Mars.