Launching from SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, the Starship, the biggest launch vehicle in human history, made its second flight history on Saturday. But according to SpaceX, the upper stage underwent a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” soon after it separated and attained its target altitude. It basically blew up.

This was Starship system’s second test flight. This year’s April saw the first one take place. That launch, too, ended in a blast. You can definitely see the beginnings of a pattern. What a tremendously prosperous day it was. Despite the fact that the Super Heavy Booster and the spacecraft were quickly and unplanned disassembled, a SpaceX announcer remarked during a live broadcast of the launch on Saturday.

Both labeling it a total failure and referring to it as a “incredibly successful day” are false. In reality, SpaceX succeeded in launching the largest and most potent rocket ever constructed. Starship traveled far farther on this journey than on its first since the rocket broke away from the ship before disintegrating. To put it most accurately, the test was only partially successful, and in order to do better, SpaceX needs to learn from its failures.

In his congrats on SpaceX’s launch, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said, “Congrats to the teams who made progress on today’s flight test.” Spaceflight is an ambitious endeavor that calls for fearless creativity and a can-do attitude. This test offers you the chance to learn, then take off again.

Nelson is not wrong. Space is difficult. It is crucial that you don’t give up until you achieve success. For a startup like SpaceX, this is particularly true. The corporation, led by Elon Musk, has adopted the motto “fail faster, iterate until you get it right.” That’s exactly the reason it’s the most prosperous private space technology enterprise.

Allow me to explain. NASA granted contracts to SpaceX and Boeing, two major players in the aerospace sector, in 2014 to create crewed spacecraft that would carry humans to the International Space Station. NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.6 billion contract and Boeing a $4.2 billion contract. Since then, SpaceX has used its Crew Dragon spacecraft to send eight men to the International Space Station. With its Starliner, Boeing has failed to launch a single aircraft.

However, this does not imply that SpaceX is operating flawlessly. Had the test on Saturday been successful, Starship would have been approved for further significant testing the following year to demonstrate its ability to move hundreds of tons of fuel between two spacecraft in orbit.

At some point, Starship’s capacity to transport crew members into deep space and beyond low orbit would also be put to the test.

This is due to NASA’s decision to work with SpaceX to supply the human landing technology that will move the astronauts of Artemis 3 from an Orion spacecraft in lunar orbit to the Moon’s surface close to its south pole.

After several delays, the Artemis program is finally scheduled to launch its second mission, Artemis 2, in November 2024. Artemis 3 mission delays could occur even if NASA is able to transport men around the Moon and back by then.

It’s funny to note that SpaceX and NASA are two completely distinct companies. The government space agency is incredibly slow-moving and bureaucratic; before moving on with any test, it ensures that everything is correct. The private space corporation operates quickly; if something goes wrong, it is corrected and improved upon before happening again. Success comes at the end of this procedure.

Despite their profoundly divergent philosophies toward space exploration, the two organizations rely significantly on one another. NASA plans to use SpaceX technology for a large number of its next lunar and martian exploration missions. NASA provides a large portion of SpaceX with the contracts necessary to maintain its operations. A story of two brothers who must put aside their differences and cooperate is nearly cinematic in quality.