SpaceX lost the upper stage of its Starship rocket on a test flight Thursday when the unmanned spacecraft apparently broke up just as it was reaching space—after a thrilling booster catch back at its Texas pad. Elon Musk's company said the spacecraft's six engines appeared to shut down one by one, with contact lost 8½ minutes into the flight, the AP reports. The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights. SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them. It was the first flight of this new and upgraded spacecraft.
SpaceX made a jokey announcement, per CNN, saying Starship "experienced rapid unscheduled disassembly." Musk posted a video of the breakup, many of which showed up on social media, and the message "entertainment is guaranteed!" Nevertheless, it appeared flights near the point of explosion over the Caribbean had to be diverted because of debris, and the Federal Aviation Administration usually launches an investigation of such events. Starship's super heavy first-stage booster successfully executed for the second time a controlled descent back to the launch tower, where it was caught by giant robotic arms, per ABC News—one of the most difficult parts of the mission.
The thrill of the catch quickly turned into disappointment for not only the company, but the crowds gathered along the southern tip of Texas. "It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about ship," said SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot, adding it would take time to analyze the data and figure out what happened, per the AP. "It's a flight test. It's an experimental vehicle." NASA has reserved a pair of Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. Musk's goal is Mars. (Blue Origin had a successful launch earlier Thursday.)
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