Anand Mahindra: Elon Musk's 'most important contribution to business' isn't SpaceX or Tesla

Anand Mahindra praised SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for not getting daunted by failures.

A day after SpaceX’s Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, exploded mid-air minutes after taking its first test flight, industrialist Anand Mahindra praised SpaceX owner Elon Musk for his willingness to take up great risks.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote, "The most important contribution to business by Elon Musk will not be Tesla, or SpaceX but his powerful attitude to risk. Most would be terminally daunted by such a ‘failure.’ But when you set up each initiative as a learning experiment (and of course, have raised the resources to do so) you essentially extend the frontiers of knowledge and progress. Salute!"

The most important contribution to business by @elonmusk will not be Tesla, or SpaceX but his powerful attitude to risk. Most would be terminally daunted by such a ‘failure.’ But when you set up each initiative as a learning experiment (and of course, have raised the resources… https://t.co/K81TLbOTMn

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— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 21, 2023

SpaceX blew up the uncrewed rocket four minutes after it blasted off from Starbase, the SpaceX spaceport in Boca Chica, Texas.

The Starship spacecraft that will eventually carry crew and cargo had been scheduled to separate from the first-stage rocket booster three minutes into the flight, but separation failed to occur and the rocket disintegrated in a ball of fire over the Gulf of Mexico.

"The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble," SpaceX said. "The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship."

It is standard procedure to destroy a wayward rocket to prevent damage to people or property below.

Despite the failure to complete the full 90-minute flight test and reach orbit, SpaceX and Elon Musk declared it a success.

"Congrats SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!" Musk tweeted. "Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months."

Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!

Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023

"With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and we learned a tremendous amount about the vehicle and ground systems today that will help us improve on future flights of Starship," SpaceX said in a statement.

Read more: Can SpaceX’s Starship spawn a revolution in international air travel?