SpaceX’s 9th Starship launch from Texas ends with rocket tumbling out of control and breaking apart, despite using a recycled booster for the first time.
SpaceX attempted another launch of its colossal Starship rocket on Tuesday evening, marking the ninth demo flight from its Starbase facility in South Texas. However, the mission fell short of expectations as the spacecraft lost control mid-flight and ultimately disintegrated.
Launch and Mission Overview
The 403-foot (123-meter) Starship lifted off as planned, featuring for the first time a reused Super Heavy booster that had flown earlier this year. Unlike previous tests, SpaceX did not attempt to catch the booster with the launch tower’s robotic arms; instead, it was expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico. Contact with the booster was lost during descent, and it crashed into the Gulf in pieces.
SpaceX had planned to deploy a series of mock satellites after liftoff, but this was aborted when the payload bay door failed to open fully. Shortly after, the spacecraft began to spin uncontrollably as it skimmed the edge of space, heading for an unplanned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Failure and Analysis
The spacecraft suffered what SpaceX described as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” meaning it broke apart mid-flight. The loss of control was apparently linked to fuel leaks, which led to the tumbling and eventual breakup. Communication with the vehicle ceased before splashdown, and SpaceX ended its live webcast shortly thereafter.
Flight commentator Dan Huot noted that many of the mission’s orbital objectives were compromised, including a critical test of the spacecraft’s heat shield during reentry.
Context and Future Plans
This launch follows two earlier Starship test flights in 2025 that ended in explosions shortly after liftoff, with debris falling into the ocean near the Caribbean. No injuries or serious damage were reported, but the incidents disrupted local air travel. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently cleared Starship for this flight after reviewing SpaceX’s corrective measures and upgrades.
SpaceX had also modified the thermal protection tiles and installed special fittings intended for future attempts to catch the spacecraft back at the launch pad, similar to the booster recovery system. Although this flight’s upper stage was designed to sink in the Indian Ocean, the test was important for validating these new features.
NASA is closely watching SpaceX’s progress, as Starship is central to the agency’s plans to return astronauts to the Moon. The next lunar mission, scheduled for 2026 or later, will rely on Starship to ferry astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back.
SpaceX’s Starship program continues to push the boundaries of rocket technology with its ambitious goal of creating a fully reusable heavy-lift system capable of interplanetary travel. Despite setbacks, each test flight provides valuable data to refine the design and operational procedures for future missions to the Moon and Mars.
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