SpaceX’s ambitious Starship project suffered another major setback on Tuesday after its later test flight ended in failure as the spacecraft spun out of control and broke apart.
The ninth demonstration flight carrying 403 feet rocket lifted off from the company’s test site in southern Texas. Space X CEO Elon Musk anticipated that the spacecraft, designed for deep-space missions to Moon and Mars, would complete ket milestones during the test, including releasing mock satellites and testing its heat shield during reentry.
However, the spacecraft developed complication shortly after the liftofff and broke apart.
The two-stage spacecraft comprised Starship vessel mounted atop a towering SpaceX Super Heavy rocket booster and blasted off at about 7:36 pm (EDT).
Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/aXAwLkRbuK
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 27, 2025
Initially, things went as expected with the 232-foot first-stage rocket separating from the upper-stage Starship vehicle several minutes after launch and heading back towards Earth, according to a Reuters report.
However, during its descent, SpaceX controllers lost contact with the booster before it presumably plunged into the sea instead of making the controlled planned splashdown.
The upper-stage Starship vehicle continued to climb to space, reaching its planned suborbital trajectory about nine minutes into the flight.
As per the report, in one of the test-flight mishaps, Starship’s payload doors failed to open to release a group of simulated satellites.
SpaceX planned to complete Starship’s experimental flight of less than 90 minutes with a controlled descent and splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
But, about thirty minutes after the launch, the flight team lost attitude control over Starship, said SpaceX, leaving the vehicle in a spin as it continued to head for atmospheric re-entry.
“We will not be aligned as we wanted it to be aligned for re-entry,” a SpaceX commentator said during the livestream. “Our chances of making it all the way down are pretty slim.”
