Washington, United States:

A SpaceX Starship prototype failed in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk’s flagship rocket program.

SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship, carrying its first test payload of mock satellites, eight minutes after liftoff from its South Texas rocket facilities at 5:38 p.m. EST (2238 GMT).

Video shot by Reuters showed orange balls of light streaking across the sky over the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince, leaving trails of smoke behind.

“We did lose all communications with the ship – that is essentially telling us we had an anomaly with the upper stage,” SpaceX Communications Manager Dan Huot said, confirming minutes later that the ship was lost.

The last time a Starship upper stage failed was in March last year, as it was reentering Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, but rarely has a SpaceX mishap caused widespread disruptions to air traffic.

At Miami International Airport, some flights were grounded, according to a Reuters witness. At least 20 commercial flights diverted to other airports or altered course to avoid potential debris, based on flight records from tracking website FlightRadar24. The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates private launch activities, said it was assessing the situation.

SpaceX CEO Musk posted a video on X showing the debris field and said: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”

The Starship upper stage, 2 meters (6.56 feet) taller than previous versions, was a “new generation ship with significant upgrades,” SpaceX said in a mission description prior to the test. It was due to make a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean roughly an hour after its launch from Texas.

Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/aq91TloYzY

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2025

The mission was SpaceX’s seventh Starship test since 2023 in Musk’s multibillion-dollar effort to build a rocket capable of ferrying humans and cargo to Mars, as well as deploying large batches of satellites into Earth’s orbit.

SpaceX’s test-to-failure development approach has in the past included spectacular failures as the company pushes Starship prototypes to their engineering limits. Thursday’s test failure, though, occurred in a mission phase that SpaceX has flown through previously.

The towering Super Heavy booster, meanwhile, returned to its launchpad roughly seven minutes after liftoff, as planned, slowing its descent from space by reigniting its Raptor engines as it hooked itself on giant mechanical arms fixed to a launch tower.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully completed its sixth flight test of the Starship spacecraft on Wednesday. The uncrewed mission, launched from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas, saw the Starship spacecraft achieve a suborbital trajectory before reentering over the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy booster executed a planned ocean splashdown.

“Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting sixth flight test of Starship!” SpaceX announced on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting sixth flight test of Starship! pic.twitter.com/bf98Va9qmL

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 19, 2024

US President-elect Donald Trump also observed the launch alongside SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, reported CNN.

The nearly 400-foot-tall Starship system, composed of the Starship spacecraft and its Super Heavy booster, launched during a 30-minute window starting at 3:30 am IST. The goal was to test the system’s limits, including a more aggressive reentry angle for Starship and the ignition of its Raptor engines in space. 

While the Super Heavy booster was slated for a precision landing on the company’s launch tower arms – nicknamed “Mechazilla” – SpaceX concluded that conditions were unfavourable and went for a safe splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico instead, the CNN report added. 

This flight represents critical progress toward Starship’s role in NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon by 2026. The spacecraft will serve as a lunar lander for the mission, with plans for future flights involving complex docking manoeuvres and fuel transfers in orbit.

“Congrats to SpaceX on Starship’s sixth test flight. Exciting to see the Raptor engine restart in space—major progress towards orbital flight. Starship’s success is Artemis’ success. Together, we will return humanity to the Moon and set our sights on Mars,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote on X.

Congrats to @SpaceX on Starship’s sixth test flight. Exciting to see the Raptor engine restart in space—major progress towards orbital flight.

Starship’s success is #Artemis‘ success. Together, we will return humanity to the Moon & set our sights on Mars. pic.twitter.com/tuwpGOvT9S

— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) November 19, 2024

This test flight incorporated new challenges, such as operating Starship with reduced protective shielding and pushing the flaps – some key components for atmospheric reentry – to their stress limits.

SpaceX engineer Kate Tice talked about the importance of testing under extreme conditions. “Turns out the vehicle had more capability than our calculations predicted, and that is why we test like we fly,” she was quoted as saying by CNN.

Looking ahead, SpaceX plans long-duration flight tests and propellant transfer demonstrations in 2025, which will be significant for the Artemis III mission. These tests involve complex logistics, such as refuelling Starship in orbit to sustain lunar missions.

New Delhi:

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared a stunning video captured by Starship of its reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere as it finished its first successful flight through space on Thursday – its third attempt.

The footage shared by Musk on X showed the “super hot plasma field grow” – a red hot flame enveloping the spacecraft – as Starship prepared to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere a little over 46 minutes into its flight.

Temperatures hit north of 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit as the craft made its re-entry.

Elon Musk captioned the video: “Watch the super hot plasma field grow as Starship re-enters the atmosphere!”

Watch the super hot plasma field grow as Starship re-enters the atmosphere! pic.twitter.com/to4UOF2Kpd

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2024

As the craft nears the Earth, loud cheers at the SpaceX headquarters almost overpowered the commentary.

But it all went south after this as radio communication with the Starship went blank. The spacecraft is lost, SpaceX announced later.

This is the first-of-its-kind re-entry footage as the previous ones were captured by the crew from inside the cabin.

It is extremely difficult to relay data home through such heated plasma fields. But Starship managed using SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, SpaceX said.

“Reliable high-speed, low-latency internet around the world – even while traveling at 27,000 km/h through a plasma field,” Starlink wrote on X, sharing the video of Starship’s reentry.

The craft managed to send imagery till a little over 48 minutes after launch. It descended to an altitude of 77 km – the last footage showed.

Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket, flew further and faster than it ever did after taking off on Thursday – its third test flight. But it was eventually lost as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, SpaceX said.

SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship launches at dawn in the haze on it’s third test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 14, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

SpaceX came close to completing an hour-long test flight of its mega rocket on its third try Thursday, but the spacecraft was lost as it descended back to Earth.

The company said it lost contact with Starship as it neared its goal, a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The first-stage booster also ended up in pieces, breaking apart much earlier in the flight over the Gulf of Mexico after launching from the southern tip of Texas near the Mexican border.

“The ship has been lost. So no splashdown today,” said SpaceX’s Dan Huot. “But again, it’s incredible to see how much further we got this time around.”

Two test flights last year both ended in explosions minutes after liftoff. By surviving for close to 50 minutes this time, Thursday’s effort was considered a win by not only SpaceX’s Elon Musk, but NASA as well as Starship soared higher and farther than ever before. The space agency is counting on Starship to land its astronauts on the moon in another few years.

The nearly 121-meter Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, headed out over the Gulf of Mexico after liftoff Thursday morning, flying east. Spectators crowded the nearby beaches in South Padre Island and Mexico.

A few minutes later, the booster separated seamlessly from the spaceship, but broke apart 1,500 feet (462 meters) above the gulf, instead of plummeting into the water intact. By then, the spacecraft was well to the east and continuing upward, with no people or satellites on board.

Starship reached an altitude of about 233 km as it coasted across the Atlantic and South Africa, before approaching the Indian Ocean. But 49 minutes into the flight — with just 15 minutes remaining — all contact was lost and the spacecraft presumably broke apart.

At that point, it was 65 km high and traveling around 16,000 mph (25,700 kph).

SpaceX’s Elon Musk had just congratulated his team a little earlier. “SpaceX has come a long way,” he said via X, formerly called Twitter. The rocket company was founded exactly 22 years ago Thursday.

NASA greets SpaceX

NASA watched with keen interest: The space agency needs Starship to succeed in order to land astronauts on the moon in the next two or so years. This new crop of moonwalkers — the first since last century’s Apollo program — will descend to the lunar surface in a Starship after transferring from NASA’s Orion capsule in lunar orbit.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson quickly congratulated SpaceX on what he called a successful test flight as part of the space agency’s Artemis moon-landing program.

The stainless steel, bullet-shaped spacecraft launched atop a first-stage booster known as the Super Heavy. Both the booster and the spacecraft are designed to be reusable, although they were never meant to be salvaged Thursday.

On Starship’s inaugural launch last April, several of the booster’s 33 methane-fueled engines failed and the booster did not separate from the spacecraft, causing the entire vehicle to explode and crash into the gulf four minutes after liftoff.

SpaceX managed to double the length of the flight during November’s trial run. While all 33 engines fired and the booster peeled away as planned, the flight ended in a pair of explosions, first the booster and then the spacecraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration reviewed all the corrections made to Starship, before signing off on Thursday’s launch. The FAA said after the flight that it would again investigate what happened. As during the second flight, all 33 booster engines performed well during ascent, according to SpaceX.

Initially, SpaceX plans to use the mammoth rockets to launch the company’s Starlink internet satellites, as well as other spacecraft. Test pilots would follow to orbit, before the company flies wealthy clients around the moon and back. Musk considers the moon a stepping stone to Mars, his ultimate quest.

NASA is insisting that an empty Starship land successfully on the moon, before future moonwalkers climb aboard. The space agency is targeting the end of 2026 for the first moon landing crew under the Artemis program, named after the mythological twin sister of Apollo.