Altogether, it was a terrific flight and a big step forward for the Starship program. The biggest success was the survival of stage zero, which bodes well for a quick turnaround for the next flight.

Hot staging was the second big success, and Starship got to space.

The flight termination was disappointing, but the actual functioning of the FTS system seems to be fixed. That was a problem with the first flight and should make the FAA very happy.

I'm disappointed there won't be a test of the heat shield, but it's definitely a successful test. All engines lit and the new "hot staging" stage separation was seemingly successful, despite the explosions later on. Can't wait for the next one!

This was mostly a success as far as test flights of experimental rockets go: it left the platform (which remained intact), it cleared the tower, continued on the set course, made it past stage separation and the second stage made it close to orbital speed and as such gave proof of the validity of the concept once the wrinkles have been ironed out.

As predictable the news media - most of which seem to have an antipathy against anything related to Musk, most likely due to ideological differences between their staff and Musk himself - present the launch as "a failure", "a flop", "a disaster", "a fiasco" and more of the like. This goes for nearly all of the ones I sampled ranging from the likes of CNN to places like Sweden's "Dagens Nyheter". As to whether this misrepresentation is due to them not understanding the expectations of test launches like these or in an(other) attempt to tar-and feather another Musk enterprise is unclear but I find it hard to believe that these institutions do not have the facts at hand to honestly report on such tests.

Worth noting, the first stage flight probably constitutes the most powerful machine ever successfully operated by humankind, no?

(A fusion bomb generates more power for a minuscule period of time, but that sort of competes in a different class.)

Wow, still, while the booster was lost that much success must have given them so much more data.

The engines on the first stage did well in this test. During the first test they were malfunctioning like crazy.

What does this mean for the crewed mission to Mars next year?

https://archive.is/k459Q

"Loses" is kind of an incorrect way to talk about the launch. The flight made great progress and was just shy of orbital velocity (it was over 24,000 km/hr and orbital velocity is around 24,500 km/hr for a low orbit).

Keep in mind that the goal of this launch wasn't to carry any payload. It was to get data and further iterative development. People here, especially, should understand how iterative development works.

The stream clouds created initially on launch were replaced by dust clouds. Where did that dust come from? I wonder how much damage was done to the launch pad this time.

I must be the only one that can't stand the laugh track equivalent they keep pushing into their launch videos. Just reeks of tacky marketing.

This launch was in Boca Chica? Where can I see the future schedule of launches. I'd like to consider attending one in person.

In spite of this, it was still a great success.

There goes another 39 raptor engines. Great success!

“rapid unscheduled disassembling”

Pardon, what is a space raft?

I’m old enough to remember the Apollo program. Not one Saturn V blew up on launch. I guess we had a different notion of “success” back then.