The Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful ever built by humans, reached space on Tuesday before exploding for the third consecutive time. Unlike the previous two test flights, which exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, this attempt saw a successful liftoff.
Later, SpaceX reported that it had lost control of the spacecraft after what it termed an “unscheduled rapid disassembly.” In plain terms, this meant the rocket would not return to Earth as planned. Ultimately, the vehicle exploded.
The launch took place from the southernmost tip of Texas at around 6:37 p.m. local time, from Starbase—a facility that functions both as SpaceX’s spaceport and as a newly recognized municipality on Boca Chica Beach, near the Mexican border.
The enormous structure left a clean vapor trail as it rose over the Gulf of Mexico (which former President Donald Trump, a Musk ally, has reportedly ordered to be renamed the Gulf of America) and disappeared into the sky. Applause broke out about eight minutes into the live broadcast, as SpaceX engineers expressed relief that the rocket had not exploded immediately, unlike during the previous two launches.
Roughly 30 minutes later, came the disappointment: the company lost control of Starship, which broadcasters said was “sort of circling” in space. SpaceX posted on X, also owned by Musk, that “with a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary.”
Musk also commented, stating: “Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Leaks resulted in a loss of main tank pressure during the glide phase and re-entry. Lots of useful data to review.” He promised that the launch cadence for future flights would be faster, approximately one every 3–4 weeks.
Tuesday’s mission was the ninth flight for the spacecraft that Musk—and NASA, through its Artemis program—hopes will eventually take astronauts to the Moon and Mars. The previous two launches, in January and March, ended in explosions that scattered debris and forced authorities to reroute air traffic.
This time, the mega-rocket stayed airborne much longer, and that can be considered a step forward, although it wasn’t a complete success for SpaceX.
Musk, who appears to have turned the page on his foray into politics to once again dedicate himself to his companies after more than 100 frenetic and chaotic days in the Trump White House, had a lot riding on Tuesday’s flight. His nerves showed when he postponed another major event planned for that day: a conference, also at Starbase, where he was set to talk about his plans to conquer Mars.
Initially scheduled for 1:00 p.m., then rescheduled for 9:00 p.m. local time, the event was quietly removed from both SpaceX’s website and its X account shortly before launch.
Following the March 7 crash of the eighth flight, SpaceX launched an investigation and announced upgrades to the rocket’s hardware to prevent recurrence and boost reliability. The probe revealed that one of the upper engines exploded about five and a half minutes into flight, causing the rocket to lose control.
Computer Failure
The most likely cause was a computer failure, which caused the accidental ignition of one of the engines. “All debris fell within the controlled area, and there were no materials hazardous to marine life or water quality,” SpaceX confirmed after the crash, which occurred in roughly the same flight path as the January accident.
This Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the ninth launch of Starship, a massive spacecraft more than 120 meters tall. Authorities also increased the danger zone along the rocket’s path.
“The FAA finds SpaceX meets all rigorous safety and environmental requirements,” the agency stated, expanding exclusion zones across the U.S. and internationally. The Aircraft Danger Area was increased from 885 to 1,600 nautical miles, stretching from SpaceX’s Texas launch site across the Straits of Florida and into regions like the Bahamas and the British-controlled Turks and Caicos Islands.
The latest Starship launch was the first to reuse the Super Heavy booster, the most powerful in history, already used on the seventh flight, on January 17. This is one of Musk’s main space bets: recycling these devices, which greatly reduces costs.
These Starship flights have successfully tested SpaceX’s “Mechazilla” arms—large mechanical arms that SpaceX uses to capture the first part of its rocket, the Super Heavy, in the air upon its return to Earth.
One of the mission’s challenges was landing the booster on a platform in the Gulf of Mexico instead of returning to base. Engineers also planned to deploy dummy satellites into orbit for the first time.
The craft would also be subjected to additional stress because SpaceX had removed several thermal tiles that protect against friction with the atmosphere to “stress test vulnerable areas of the craft during reentry.”
Starbase, now an independent municipality, voted to become one earlier this month, with support from Texas Republican officials. Far from a typical town, it’s more like a dusty coastal outpost with a few single-family homes (whose original owners sold after SpaceX moved in) and a retro-futuristic RV park for SpaceX employees.
Its 283 residents are mostly company workers, and Musk himself lives there. The site sits just a few miles from the Rio Grande and the Mexican border.