SpaceX rockets keep exploding. Is that normal?

With yet another failed Starship test this week, in which the ambitious heavy rocket exploded once again, you might reasonably suspect that luck has finally run out for SpaceX. But this degree of failure during a development process isn’t actually unusual, according to Wendy Whitman Cobb, a space policy expert with the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, especially when you’re testing new space technology as complex as a large rocket. However, the Starship test is meaningfully different from the slow, steady pace of development that we’ve come to expect from the space sector. Historically, space agencies like NASA or legacy aerospace companies such as United Space Alliance have taken their time with rocket development and have not tested until they were confident of a successful outcome. SpaceX has chosen a different path, in which it tests, fails, and iterates frequently. Whilst this process has been successful in allowing them to develop technologies like the reusable Falcon 9 rocket at a rapid pace, it often leads to very public failures, causing environmental damage around the launch site, conflicts with regulatory agencies, and concerns over the political affiliations of SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk. Despite these concerns, one thing is clear: getting an uncrewed rocket to Mars within the next decade is a lot more realistic than next year.