SpaceX's latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion
[March 07, 2025]
By MARCIA DUNN
Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on
the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on
Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the
spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.
This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from
the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the
spacecraft's self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.
The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught
the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but
engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked
eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian
Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost less than 10 minutes into the
flight as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.
Starship reached nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) in altitude before
trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed. It was
not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris
were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted
online.
The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour. The Federal
Aviation Administration said it would require SpaceX to investigate the
accident.
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at
this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid
unscheduled disassembly" during the ascent engine firing and said it
alerted safety officials.
Flights were briefly grounded at Orlando International Airport “due to
space launch debris in the area,” the airport posted on X.
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SpaceX's mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase in
Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Starship didn't make it quite as high or as far as last time.
NASA has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later
this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship,
the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.
Like last time, Starship had mock satellites to release once the
craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for
future missions. They resembled SpaceX’s Starlink internet
satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant
to fall back down following their brief taste of space.
Starship’s flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in
preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the
launch site just like the booster.
During the last demo, SpaceX captured the booster at the launch pad,
but the spacecraft blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic.
No injuries or major damage were reported.
According to an investigation that remains ongoing, leaking fuel
triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecraft’s engines.
The on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.
SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft following
the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently
cleared Starship once more for launch.
Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican
border. SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape
Canaveral, home to the company’s smaller Falcon rockets that ferry
astronauts and satellites to orbit.
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