SpaceX Starship rocket launches in historic test but explodes mid-flight

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Elon Musk's SpaceX launched its Starship rocket for the first time, but fell short of reaching space after suffering a mid-flight failure. No crew were on board.

It's the culmination of years of regulatory work and technological tests for SpaceX and the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.

The company made a first go at getting this launch off the ground on Monday, but a pressure valve in the Super Heavy booster apparently froze. The company's teams worked to resolve a number of unidentified issues to make a second attempt possible on Thursday.

SpaceX leadership has repeatedly stressed the experimental nature of the launch and said any result that involved Starship getting off the launchpad would be a success.
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www.cnbc.com

SpaceX Starship rocket launches in historic test but explodes mid-flight

Elon Musk's SpaceX launched its towering Starship rocket to space but suffered a mid-flight explosion.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com

Well, that sucks. It launched from Boca Chica (near South Padre Island), TX so I assume the debris will fall into the Gulf of Mexico.
 
yet the government mistakes kill astronauts...

FAA Punishes SpaceX For Starship Explosion... Elon Musk Reacts!​

 
SpaceX's next-generation megarocket — the largest ever built — launched on its second-ever test flight today (Nov. 18), a highly anticipated jaunt that took the giant vehicle to space for the first time, but it didn't last long. Shortly after stage separation, the rocket's massive Super Heavy booster exploded, with the Starship upper-stage vehicle itself detonating before reaching its target altitude in what SpaceX called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."

"What we do believe right now is that the automated flight termination system on second stage appears to have triggered very late in the burn, as we were headed downrange out over the Gulf of Mexico," said John Insprucker, SpaceX's principal integration engineer, during a live webcast today.

The massive Starship and Super Heavy booster took off today at about 8 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT; 7 a.m. local Texas time) from SpaceX's Starbase test and manufacturing facility in Boca Chica.
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www.space.com

SpaceX Starship megarocket launches on 2nd-ever test flight, explodes in 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' (video)

It was the second explosive moment for the biggest rocket ever built, but SpaceX hailed it as a success.
www.space.com www.space.com

SpaceX not having much luck launching ships from Boca Chica, TX.
 


Progress:
SpaceX's Starship megarocket, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, reached orbital speed for the first time Thursday in a historic third test flight from South Texas.

Hundreds of Spring Break spectators, rocket launch chasers and SpaceX fans gathered along the southern shores of South Padre Island and surrounding areas to witness the third test flight of the biggest rocket ever built. About 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of the crowds, SpaceX's massive Starship vehicle lifted off this morning (March 14) at 9:25 a.m. EDT (1325 GMT) from the company's manufacturing and test launch facilities near Boca Chica Beach.

"Starship reached orbital velocity," SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced on X (formerly Twitter) after liftoff. "Congratulations SpaceX team!!" Both the Starship vehicle and its Super Heavy booster did not survive all the way through to their intended splashdown, but SpaceX officials said the test flight achieved several of its key goals during the flight.
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Today's launch, designated Integrated Flight Test-3 (IFT-3), was the third test mission for the fully stacked Starship. The first and second Starship launches both ended explosively last year, with the vehicles detonating before the completion of each flight's mission objectives. However, data collected during those first flights helped SpaceX engineers get Starship ready for success down the road.

Improvements made between IFT-1 and IFT-2 last year included the implementation of a "hot staging" technique, in which the upper stage engines begin firing before Starship's first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, fully separates. IFT-2's hot staging maneuver was a success, as it was today as well.

High in the sky, Starship's two stages separated about 2 minutes 45 seconds after liftoff, sending the 165-foot-tall (50 m) upper-stage spacecraft onward to space while Super Heavy began preparations for a boostback burn to redirect its trajectory. That post-staging burn reversed Super Heavy's velocity, and was intended to be followed minutes later by a landing burn above the Gulf of Mexico. However, it appears the Super Heavy's engines did not relight as planned, leading to the loss of the booster.

"It didn't light all the engines that we expected and we did lose the booster," Huot said. "We'll have to go through the data to figure out exactly what happened, obviously."

Starship is designed to be fully reusable, and SpaceX plans to land and relaunch its Super Heavy boosters, as it does with its Falcon 9 rockets. In the future, two "chopstick" arms on Starship's launch tower will catch the Super Heavy booster as it returns for landing, but IFT-3's Super Heavy was always expected to splash down in the Gulf.
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www.space.com

SpaceX launches giant Starship rocket into space on epic 3rd test flight (video)

SpaceX's megarocket reached orbital speed with a space test flight under its belt.
www.space.com www.space.com
 
Launched another rocket this morning...

 

SpaceX catches giant Starship booster in fifth flight test​

Oct 13 (Reuters) - SpaceX in its fifth Starship test flight on Sunday returned the rocket's towering first stage booster back to its Texas launch pad for the first time using giant mechanical arms, achieving another novel engineering feat in the company's push to build a reusable moon and Mars vehicle.

The rocket's first stage "Super Heavy" booster lifted off at 7:25 a.m. CT (1225 GMT) from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas launch facilities, sending the Starship second stage rocket toward space before separating at an altitude of roughly 70 km (40 miles) to begin its return to land - the most daring part of the test flight.

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searcher said:

SpaceX catches giant Starship booster in fifth flight test​

Oct 13 (Reuters) - SpaceX in its fifth Starship test flight on Sunday returned the rocket's towering first stage booster back to its Texas launch pad for the first time using giant mechanical arms, achieving another novel engineering feat in the company's push to build a reusable moon and Mars vehicle.

The rocket's first stage "Super Heavy" booster lifted off at 7:25 a.m. CT (1225 GMT) from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas launch facilities, sending the Starship second stage rocket toward space before separating at an altitude of roughly 70 km (40 miles) to begin its return to land - the most daring part of the test flight.

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The video is pretty impressive..
 
pmbug said:
The engineering required to execute that booster capture boggles my mind. Very cool stuff!
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and to think it took private industry to think outside the box and accomplish this feat!

I suppose not having an endless budget (funded by government) causes one to sue money wisely?

 
🚨HOW SPACEX REVOLUTIONIZED LAUNCH COSTS: FROM $25K TO $200 PER KG

SpaceX's innovation has dramatically transformed the economics of space flight.

This shows how launch costs have plummeted from $25,600 per kilogram during the Space Shuttle era to an estimated $200 with Starship.

The cost revolution started with Falcon 1 and accelerated with each new SpaceX vehicle.

While traditional rockets like Delta Heavy still cost around $12,800 per kg, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy slashed that to under $1,600 - and Starship promises to reduce it even further.

What took decades of government spending at premium prices, Elon's SpaceX has disrupted in just 15 years through reusable rockets and innovative design.

Source:
@TheRabbitHole84

@SpaceX

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LIVE: SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket​

Streamed live 70 minutes ago #spacex #space

Watch live as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 27 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.


14:00
 
The votes are in and by a 216-6 margin, Boca Chica, TX is going to be incorporated as Starbase, Texas.
 
pmbug said:
The votes are in and by a 216-6 margin, Boca Chica, TX is going to be incorporated as Starbase, Texas.
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Update

Musk’s SpaceX town in Texas warns residents they may lose right to ‘continue using’ their property​

  • Starbase, Texas warned residents in a notice that they may lose the right to continue using their property.
  • Elon Musk’s SpaceX company town is considering a new zoning ordinance and city-wide map.
  • The town is proposing a new “Mixed Use District.”
Starbase, Texas, has notified some residents that they might “lose the right to continue using” their property as they do today, according to a memo obtained by CNBC.

The town, home to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is considering a new zoning ordinance and city-wide map.

The notice, sent to property owners in a proposed “Mixed Use District,” would allow for “residential, office, retail, and small-scale service uses.”

Starbase plans to host a public hearing on Monday, June 23, 2025, about the proposed new zoning and map for the town. The notice was signed by Kent Myers, a city administrator for Starbase and radiation test specialist at SpaceX according to his LinkedIn profile.

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I'm guessing residents were already aware of this possibility when they voted to let SpaceX have the town.
 
Haven't listened to this yet. Will come back later on when time permits.

 
Have to wait and see how this will play out.

Elon Musk says SpaceX will decommission Dragon spacecraft after Trump threat​

  • Elon Musk said SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft “immediately” because of threats by President Donald Trump to cancel government contracts with Musk’s businesses.
  • Musk’s announcement on his social media site X escalated a war of words with Trump that began after the Tesla CEO criticized the major tax bill being pushed by the Republican president.
  • A SpaceX Dragon capsule brought two NASA astronauts back to Earth in March after they were stranded for months at the International Space Station by a Boeing Starliner capsule.
Elon Musk on Thursday said that his company SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft “immediately” because of threats by President Donald Trump to cancel government contracts with Musk’s businesses.

Musk’s announcement, on his social media site X, came amid an escalating war of words with Trump that began after the Tesla CEO criticized the major tax bill being pushed by the Republican president.

“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk wrote.

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SpaceX’s Starship explodes during routine test in Texas​

  • SpaceX’s Starship “suffered a catastrophic failure and exploded” during a routine test at the Starbase facility, according to local authorities.
  • Three other Starship launches devolved into explosions this year to date.
  • Starship is key to SpaceX’s plans to assist NASA plans to resume crewed missions to the Moon and to Elon Musk’s plans to colonize Mars.
A SpaceX Starship rocket on Wednesday exploded at the Starbase facility in Texas during routine testing in preparation for a launch flight, according to local authorities and live stream footage.

The rocket “experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase” at 11 p.m. local time, SpaceX said on social media, noting “a safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for.”

Local authorities said that Starship “suffered a catastrophic failure and exploded,” with no injuries reported at the time of writing and an investigation is now underway. Live stream footage of Starbase showed the rocket burst into flame, shooting a large fireball into the sky.

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SpaceX's Latest Starship Explodes During Ground Test​

Starship #36 was getting ready for a flight, which meant a series of ground tests, and during run up to the 6 engine static fire something went catastrophically wrong.
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