Rocket fragments from SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy booster were found in the sky after an “unscheduled rapid disassembly” before parts of the device could successfully “chopstick” again.
The vehicle was launched from SpaceX's Starbase Test Range in Boca Chica, Texas. The booster then separated approximately 2 minutes and 45 seconds after liftoff and returned to the starbase, Space News reported.
SpaceX said the spacecraft's six engines appeared to fail one by one, and contact was lost just eight and a half minutes into the flight.
Scientists say powerful Webb telescope has captured the most distant galaxy known
“Starship experienced an unscheduled rapid breakup during its ascent burn,” SpaceX said in a statement. “The team will continue to review data from today's flight test to better understand the root cause. In tests like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight It helps improve reliability.”
This was the seventh test flight of the powerful rocket.
As with previous test flights, the spacecraft was scheduled to fly almost completely around the globe, starting in Texas and crossing the Gulf of Mexico. It was packed with 10 dummy satellites for release practice. This was the first flight of this new and improved spacecraft.
Powerful Webb Telescope monitors spectacular star birth clusters beyond the Milky Way
Starship Flight 7 will lift off from Starbase, Texas, on Thursday. (Related news organizations)
“While we were happy to see the booster come down, we are obviously disappointed with the ship,” SpaceX spokesman Dan Fott said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told FOX News Digital it is evaluating the operation.
“The FAA is aware of an anomaly that occurred during the SpaceX Starship Flight 7 mission that launched from Boca Chica, Texas, on January 16,” the agency said. “The FAA temporarily slowed and redirected the aircraft near the area where spacecraft debris had fallen. Normal operations have resumed.”
Starship 7 launches from Starbase, Texas before upper stage is lost (Related news organizations)
The last data received from the spacecraft indicated an altitude of 90 miles and a speed of 13,245 miles.
The 400-foot-tall rocket roared away from Boca Chica, near the Mexican border, in the late afternoon. Elon Musk said he plans to launch the actual Starlink on Starship before moving on to other satellites and eventually a crew.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX, saying that “spaceflight is not easy.”
“This is by no means routine, which is why these tests are so important. Each test brings us closer to the path to the moon and even to Mars,” he said. I wrote to X.
Scientists talk about the merger of giant black holes in the early universe discovered by the Webb Telescope
Video footage of debris falling from the sky appears to have puzzled people on the ground.
Overview of SpaceX spacecraft on the space station and launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas, USA, January 16, 2025. (Material via Maxar Technologies/Reuters)
“Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!” Musk wrote about X in response to a video posted online.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In a later post, he said that “improved ships and boosters are already waiting for launch.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
