SpaceX’s Starship Suffers Another Setback in Uncrewed Test Flight
News Desk
Texas: SpaceX’s ninth integrated test flight of its colossal Starship rocket ended in failure on Wednesday, after the vehicle lost control and disintegrated approximately 30 minutes into its uncrewed mission. The rocket, developed by billionaire Elon Musk’s aerospace company, launched from the firm’s test site in Boca Chica, Texas.
According to Reuters, a fuel leak while the spacecraft was in orbit led to an uncontrolled spin, resulting in the vehicle’s premature reentry into Earth’s atmosphere and subsequent breakup. SpaceX confirmed the incident on social media, describing it as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” a term the company frequently uses for unplanned flight failures.
“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn,” the company stated. “Today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as we seek to make life multiplanetary.”
Despite the failure, the 123-meter-tall rocket achieved a record altitude compared to previous tests, signaling incremental progress in SpaceX’s plan to develop Starship into a fully reusable launch system for missions to the Moon and Mars.
This was the ninth launch of the integrated Starship and Super Heavy booster system. Of the prior eight test flights, four have also ended in vehicle destruction. The most recent failure before Wednesday occurred on March 6, when the rocket exploded shortly after takeoff.
SpaceX’s experimental approach — described internally as “fail fast, learn fast” — reflects Musk’s broader vision of enabling human colonization of Mars. However, the recurring test failures have raised growing concerns about environmental impacts and public safety. In several cases, debris from failed launches has been reported across southern U.S. states and parts of the Caribbean.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that it briefly suspended departures from four major airports in Florida, including Miami International Airport, as a precaution after reports emerged of falling debris. The FAA had already expanded the airspace closure zone for the test, nearly doubling it to 1,600 nautical miles (2,963 km) east of the launch site, and coordinated with international aviation authorities in the UK, Mexico, Cuba, the Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos.
Despite safety and environmental concerns, the FAA recently approved a significant increase in SpaceX’s annual launch cap — from five to 25 launches — asserting that the expanded schedule posed no substantial environmental risk. The move faced opposition from several conservation groups.
Meanwhile, scrutiny over SpaceX’s federal partnerships is intensifying. In March, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed an ethics complaint urging an investigation into whether FAA dealings with Musk’s Starlink satellite company may have violated conflict-of-interest regulations.
Elon Musk, who has become increasingly active in U.S. political discourse and a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, has dismissed criticism, stating his focus remains on combating federal waste and fraud.
Starship is also a central component of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon. If fully developed, the system would become the most powerful rocket ever built, capable of carrying more cargo into orbit than any spacecraft in history.
Despite Wednesday’s setback, SpaceX maintains that each flight contributes vital data to improving the rocket’s design and performance — a crucial step toward making interplanetary travel a reality.
