SpaceX loses spacecraft after catching rocket booster during test flight
SpaceX conducted the seventh flight test of its Starship launch vehicle on Thursday, which the company called "the most capable" Starship yet -- and the only fully reusable one.
It was a mixed bag for the aerospace giant, however, as they successfully caught the first stage booster upon its return to Earth, but lost communications with the Starship as it broke up while heading into space.
The more than 400-foot rocket, powered by 33 Raptor engines, appeared to lift off successfully at 4:37 p.m. CT from SpaceX's launchpad at its Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas.
But minutes into the mission, ground control announced during a live stream of the mission that it had lost all communications with the ship.
The company said they lost several engines and telemetry and that the ship had been lost.
There were no astronauts on board the test flight mission.
SpaceX added that the rocket used Thursday is a new version of the Starship.
While the Starship is lost, the super heavy first-stage booster successfully executed a controlled descent back to the launch tower, where it was caught by the launch tower's giant robotic arms. This is considered one of the most challenging aspects of the mission.
Thursday's feat marked the second time that SpaceX has been able to return and catch the stage booster using the launch tower.
Following the loss of the spacecraft, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) briefly announced it was slowing flights in and around Florida due to the possibility of falling debris from the SpaceX launch.
Footage of debris falling from the sky was seen over the Turks and Caicos Islands on Thursday.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took social media on Thursday to address the launch, saying that an oxygen or fuel leak in the cavity could have occurred above the ship engine firewall.
"Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity," Musk wrote on X.
"Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area," Musk added.
He indicated that so far none of the company's findings would have them push the next launch past next month.
Sharing a video of the debris falling, Musk wrote, "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!"
Despite the loss, SpaceX has high hopes for the future of the Starship spacecraft. Unlike the Falcon 9 rocket, which has been used for years to carry satellites and astronauts to orbit with a partially reusable design, SpaceX says Starship will be fully reusable and will eventually include a heat shield that can be rapidly redeployed without significant refurbishing.
SpaceX says Starship can carry larger payloads, such as satellites and cargo, than other launch vehicles and can support long-duration missions to the Moon and potentially Mars.
Additionally, the company says the launch system will eventually be capable of carrying up to 100 people on long-duration interplanetary flights.
SpaceX says the test flight introduced a redesigned upper stage with enhancements such as an improved heat shield, increased propellant capacity and updated avionics.
The company says the updates will improve the vehicle's reliability and enable longer more complex missions.
During the mission, which has now been scrapped, the spacecraft planned to deploy 10 Starlink satellite simulators for the first time, testing its ability to deliver payloads in space.
The simulators were set to be placed on a suborbital trajectory, with splashdown planned in the Indian Ocean.
The mission was planning to test new materials and design changes to enhance the spacecraft's heat resistance during reentry.
Ahead of the launch, the company said it purposely removed heat tiles to test the vehicle's heat resiliency.
SpaceX was planning to use the data from the test flight to refine the design for future missions.
