Nearly two months after a previous test ended in an explosion, sending debris falling over the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another Starship rocket on Thursday. However, contact with the spacecraft was lost just minutes into the flight as it spiraled out of control.
The towering 403-foot (123-meter) rocket lifted off from Texas shortly before sunset. While SpaceX successfully recovered the first-stage booster using massive mechanical arms at the launch site, issues arose with the upper-stage spacecraft as it soared eastward. Several of its engines shut down prematurely, preventing a controlled descent over the Indian Ocean as planned.
The mission, intended to last an hour, was unable to deploy its four mock satellites into space. The spacecraft had climbed to nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) in altitude before losing stability. It remains unclear where it ultimately came down.
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot noted from the launch site.
SpaceX has ambitious plans for Starship, with Nasa selecting it for future lunar landings, while company founder Elon Musk envisions the rocket eventually transporting humans to Mars.
As with the previous test, this mission included four simulated satellites designed to mimic SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites. They were intended to be released into space briefly before falling back to Earth.
To improve reusability, SpaceX had modified Starship’s flaps, onboard computers, and fuel system, aiming for an eventual return of the spacecraft to the launch site—similar to how the booster was recovered.
In the last test, while the booster was successfully caught at the pad, the spacecraft exploded minutes later over the Atlantic. No injuries or significant damage were reported.
An ongoing investigation into the previous failure determined that a fuel leak led to a series of fires, which caused the spacecraft’s engines to shut down. As designed, the onboard self-destruct system was triggered.
Following the incident, SpaceX implemented several upgrades to the spacecraft, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently approved Starship for another launch.
Starship flights originate from Texas’ southernmost tip near the Mexican border. Meanwhile, SpaceX is also constructing a second Starship launch facility at Cape Canaveral, Florida, alongside its existing Falcon rocket operations, which handle crewed and satellite missions.
