A video of SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket prototype, exploding on impact during an attempted landing from February 2021 is being shared with the false claim that it shows the remains of a Chinese rocket crashing in the Indian Ocean.
In the viral clip, a rocket can be seen crash landing on impact and exploding with people at a distance recording and reacting to the crash.
The clip is being shared in the backdrop of remains of China's biggest rocket Long March 5B re-entering the earth's atmosphere and crashing into the Indian Ocean near the Maldives on May 9, 2021, with no reports of injury or damage.
The clip is being shared with the caption, "China rocket landed in earth to Indian Ocean"
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Viral on Facebook
On searching on Facebook with the same caption, we found that the viral clip is being shared with the false claim.
BOOM also received the viral clip on its WhatsApp helpline number (7700906111).
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral clip is from February 2021 which shows a prototype of SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket that was launched successfully on February 2, 2021, but exploded on impact during an attempted landing.
On performing a reverse image search, we found search results that indicated that the clip is from a SpaceX launch. On performing a keyword search on YouTube with 'spacex starship sn9 explosion' we found a longer version of the same clip uploaded on February 4, 2021.
We can see the same visuals in this 1.18 minutes clip from the 1 minute timestamp as in the viral clip.
One can also view the same Starship SN9 fight test livestream on SpaceX YouTube channel where the same sequence of events of the rocket crash landing.
SpaceX finally managed to land its prototype Starship rocket at its Texas base without blowing it up on May 5, 2021, for the first time after five attempts.
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