A huge risk-taking Starship that got up, up but not quite away

The first-ever launch of Elon Musk’s fully built reusable Starship “Super Heavy rocket” on April 20 was an awe-inspiring sight despite the explosion.

The most awe-inspiring giant man-made rocket ever to take to the skies did blast off with thunderous noise and spectacle. This behemoth was 120m tall, 10m more elevated than the venerable Saturn V booster of the Apollo program 50 years ago. It looks nothing like its predecessor but more like something from a 1950s science fiction magazine with shiny exterior and wings on the upper stage.It was up, up, and not quite away as it exploded about four minutes into its historic first test flight or as SpaceX tweeted with a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” – well, that is one way of putting it! 

READ MORE: Elon Musk's Starship explodes after first test flight's liftoff

The destruction was caused by a deliberate flight termination instruction from the ground crew intended to prevent more adverse consequences of an uncontrolled situation as the rocket started tumbling and veering off course as the first stage separation malfunctioned.

However, as a city, we need to take a leaf out of the Elon Musk playbook and look to accept some failures like Space X does as part of a vital learning path that can lead to tremendous future success. This is because when we succeed, past failures do not seem important, and people tend to remember the successes more. If none of us risk anything, we also risk losing more in the end, allowing our competitors to make inroads into our business and edge. 

Quentin Parker

It was a spectacular end to the inaugural test flight, but even before launch, Space X was already indicating the chances of success were low….

But they launched anyway? Why? 

Basically, so they could learn expensive lessons about how to do it better and more successfully next time. 

There is a huge difference between state-based space launches from bodies like ESA and NASA, where failures need to be justified to governments and ultimately the taxpayers that pay for it, all making such enterprises extremely risk averse.  Those of private companies with deep pockets are responsible only to their shareholders, if publicly listed, or otherwise only to their billionaire owners. So, they can and are prepared to be much more adventurous when needed. 

This can have the effect of facilitating far more rapid advances and developments in science and technology where the risk-reward calculus is different.   

There are also essential takeaways from this episode for us to consider. 

For example, conservative risk-averse thinking in Hong Kong is something I have personally been grappling with since I arrived in this truly unique city back in 2015. At times it seems no one wants to risk making a decision that might backfire, so buck-passing and avoidance of decision-making can sometimes be elevated to quite insane levels from my perspective and experience.

ALSO READ: SpaceX capsule returns crew of four from space station mission  

However, as a city, we need to take a leaf out of the Elon Musk playbook and look to accept some failures like Space X does as part of a vital learning path that can lead to tremendous future success. This is because when we succeed, past failures do not seem important, and people tend to remember the successes more. If none of us risk anything, we also risk losing more in the end, allowing our competitors to make inroads into our business and edge. 

So, for me, this launch was much more a half-glass-full scenario rather than half glass empty, a moderated success. It flew! It ssurvived the so-called “Max-Q” the point when the stresses on the rocket are at their maximum. 

Also, most of the 33 raptor engines performed optimally, but several did not, thus contributing to the aborted flight. The Starship also reached a maximum altitude of about 40km which is no mean feat on the first real fully integrated flight of this fully reusable technology.

ALSO READ: SpaceX halts Starship rocket's debut flight, citing frozen valve

So a path forward may be littered with obstacles and setbacks. Still, the visionary, the determined, the adventurous, and the less risk-averse of us can jump, swerve, tunnel, and strategize our way through to the rewards that await both in space and here on the ground. 

Our new generation of HK-based astropreneurs should take heart and inspiration from this amazing failure.

The author is a professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Hong Kong, the director of its Laboratory for Space Research, and vice-chairman of the Orion Astropreneur Space Academy.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.