KUALA LUMPUR – SpaceX’s latest Starship test ended in failure today, as the uncrewed spacecraft broke apart minutes after liftoff from Boca Chica, Texas. This marked the seventh test flight for Starship which is Elon Musk’s ambitious spacecraft designed to – one day – carry people and cargo to Mars.
“Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn,” SpaceX posted on X, which is also owned by Musk.
“Teams will continue to review data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause. With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability.”
The mission saw the Super Heavy booster successfully return to its launchpad approximately seven minutes after takeoff, an achievement that drew cheers from SpaceX ground control.
However, contact with the Starship upper stage was lost nearly four minutes into the flight, BBC reported.
Social media footage purportedly showed parts of the spacecraft breaking up in flames, with fiery debris reportedly visible over the Caribbean.
“Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!” Musk quipped on X, sharing a video of the fiery trail left by the failed launch.
Musk later elaborated that the breakup might have been caused by “an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall.”
“Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the anomaly, clarifying that flights in the region were briefly diverted to avoid potential debris.
“Normal operations have resumed,” the FAA said as reported by Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, FlightRadar24 shows at least 20 flights altered their routes.
On the same day, Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time, marking a significant milestone in Bezos’s quest to compete with SpaceX in the commercial space race.
The Musk-Bezos billionaire rivalry was on full display as Musk jokingly compared their dynamic to the characters in the comedy film Step Brothers – a 2008 movie starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly and is about two seemingly immature adult men wreaking havoc on their families while navigating their rivalry and eventual friendship.
The failed Starship launch also came just a day after SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre. The mission carried two privately constructed lunar landers and a micro rover to the moon, showcasing the company’s continued advancements in space exploration despite setbacks.
With improved versions of Starship and its Super Heavy booster already lined up for testing, Musk remains optimistic about the spacecraft’s future.
Footage of the ill-fated launch garnered 7.2 million views on SpaceX’s livestream. – January 17, 2025