SpaceX executes ‘chopsticks’ booster catch but Starship spacecraft explosion temporarily diverts flights

Orange and white streaks are seen lighting up the sky in Turks and Caicos after the SpaceX Starship failed and broke up in the atmosphere. These videos are taken on the same pathway as the Starship was traveling on Thursday and where flights have been diverting in an apparent attempt to avoid debris. (Brian Henry via CNN Newsource)

SpaceX’s colossal Starship launch system lifted off on its seventh uncrewed test flight Thursday, with an upgraded version of the megarocket embarking on the program’s most ambitious flight to date.

SpaceX was able to duplicate its prior feat of catching a booster that returned to Earth. But 8.5 minutes into flight, the Starship spacecraft itself was lost.

“Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn,” the company shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Teams will continue to review data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause. With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability.”

A “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” or “RUD,” is a phrase SpaceX typically uses to refer to an explosion. Starship had already climbed 90 miles (146 kilometres) in altitude and was traveling at 13,200 miles per hour (21,317 km/h), according to the last telemetry data shared by SpaceX.

Aircraft-tracking website Flightradar24 shared on X that the Starship explosion caused its most tracked flights to be “all aircraft holding or diverting to avoid any potential debris.” Meanwhile, posts are appearing on social media showing purported debris from the spacecraft falling over the Caribbean.

The Federal Aviation Administration said flights departing Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport were being delayed for an average of one hour due to a “rocket launch anomaly.” A separate FAA alert said flights were delayed due to “debris.”

“The FAA briefly slowed and diverted aircraft around the area where space vehicle debris was falling. Normal operations have resumed,” according to a statement from the agency.

At 5:55 p.m. ET, 18 minutes after Starship’s launch, a pilot radioed to an air traffic controller at a San Juan air traffic control facility. “We just got a major streak, going from at least 60 miles, there’s all these different colors, just curious. It looked like it was coming towards us, but obviously because of this, just letting you know,” the pilot said.

Meanhile, SpaceX founder Elon Musk shared an image of debris in a post and appeared to make light of the situation, saying “entertainment is guaranteed!”

The Starship spacecraft, stacked atop the Super Heavy rocket booster, took flight at 5:37 p.m. ET (4:37 p.m. local time) Thursday. The rocket booster revved up the 33 engines at its base, sending a loud roar across Starbase, the SpaceX launch site near Brownsville, Texas.

For the first time, one of those 33 Raptor engines had been to space before: SpaceX said it was reusing an engine recovered from the Super Heavy booster flown during the company’s fifth test flight in October.

As the Super Heavy rocket booster — the bottommost section, or first stage, of the Starship system — burned through most of its fuel, SpaceX guided the Super Heavy back to a pinpoint landing at the launch site after it separated from the Starship spacecraft.

The Starship spacecraft ignited its own engines and began soaring through space.

The company steered the Super Heavy booster squarely into the “chopsticks,” the metal arms of “Mechazilla,” which is SpaceX’s name for the launch tower that also serves as a structural mechanism for catching rocket parts as they blaze back down from the sky after launch.

SpaceX had only successfully recaptured a Super Heavy booster after launch once before, during the fifth fully integrated Starship test flight in October 2024.

The maneuver sent an earsplitting sonic boom ringing across the landing site, which is in close proximity to the popular Texas tourist destination of South Padre Island.

Path for ‘new generation’ Starship

While the Super Heavy aced its landing attempt, the Starship spacecraft, or upper stage, was expected to continue propelling itself through space, reaching speeds almost fast enough to enter orbit around Earth.

But the Starship spacecraft stopped delivering telemetry, suggesting that the spacecraft may have been lost.

“We were expecting ship engine cutoff about 40 seconds ago,” said SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot on the live stream during a crucial part of the ascent phase. “We saw some of those engines start to go out prior to that point. And so right now we are, we are just standing by to try and get the latest word on where we are.”

Shortly after the update, the team confirmed the loss of the vehicle.

“We can confirm that we did lose the ship,” SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said.

Prior to the completion of Starship’s ascent burn to space, a fire developed in the aft section of the ship, leading to an explosion and sending debris falling into the Atlantic Ocean within the predefined hazard areas, according to SpaceX.

“Starship flew within its designated launch corridor — as all U.S. launches do to safeguard the public both on the ground, on water and in the air,” the company shared on its site. “Any surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area. If you believe you have identified a piece of debris, please do not attempt to handle or retrieve the debris directly. Instead, please contact your local authorities or the SpaceX Debris Hotline at 1-866-623-0234 or at [e-mail].”

Musk took to X, which he owns, to share that “improved versions of the ship (and) booster already waiting for launch.”

“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 added later. “Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month.”

Meanwhile, outgoing NASA Administrator Bill Nelson shared his thoughts on X. “Congrats to @SpaceX on Starship’s seventh test flight and the second successful booster catch. Spaceflight is not easy. It’s anything but routine. That’s why these tests are so important — each one bringing us closer on our path to the Moon and onward to Mars through #Artemis.”

The “new generation” Starship flying on the Thursday mission had some substantial upgrades from previous versions, according to SpaceX. The changes included additional fuel capacity, which could allow Starship’s engines to burn longer and generate more speed.

The vehicle was also equipped with a more powerful flight computer, revamped navigation, and new antennas that SpaceX hoped would allow Starship to better communicate with the company’s space-based internet network, Starlink.

Crucially, SpaceX was also for the first time attempting to test out how the Starship vehicle might deploy satellites. On board the spacecraft were 10 dummy payloads that are roughly the same size and weight as SpaceX’s next generation of Starlink satellites.

About 17 minutes into the mission, SpaceX was intended to deploy the mock satellites as part of a demonstration. Like Starship, the demo payloads were not expected to reach orbit. Rather, they would have been on a suborbital trajectory similar to that of Starship, guaranteeing they would be discarded in the ocean, according the company.

About one hour after takeoff, the Starship spacecraft was expected to make a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The maneuver was intended to test out how Starship might be recovered after future flights. But as has been the case with the past few test missions, the vehicle would have been discarded and left to a watery grave.

SpaceX will go back and assess the data from the flight to determine what caused the spacecraft to fail, Huot said.

“It’s going to take some time. In the next hours, days — we’re going to figure out exactly what happened, come back, fly the next one, get farther,” he said. “Reminder, it’s a test of an experimental vehicle.”

Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN