Hot, hot heat
This view, captured by a Lab Padre camera, shows the blast from behind the launch mount. SpaceX has spent a lot of time and money building the 469-foot-tall catch and launch tower at its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, so damaging it yet again would’ve represented a costly setback. For Shotwell, a key goal of the pending orbital test flight “is to not blow up the launch pad,” saying “that is success.”
