SpaceX's 9th Starship rocket loses control during test flight; what went wrong this time?
Elon Musk's giant
Starship rocket
launched again from Texas on May 27 for another test flight. This time, the rocket lost control of its altitude due to a leak.
SpaceX
announcers said during the live broadcast that a controlled landing was unlikely.
Starship had a similar problem during its third test flight. Two test flights ended in explosions over the Caribbean, scattering debris and forcing airplanes to change course in early 2025 too.
Starship, the largest rocket ever built, on Tuesday's (May 27) flight, used 33 engines in its lower stage, called 'Super Heavy' to lift the rocket to near space. After separation, Starship ignited its six engines and flew around Earth for less than an hour, performing several tests.
The rocket was supposed to launch dummy satellites, but a door on the spacecraft did not open as planned. Coverage of the flight ended when contact was lost with the rocket. Announcers predicted the rocket would land in a disoriented position.
SpaceX planned to land the booster over water. The company wanted to test whether the booster could land safely without one of its three center engines firing. This engine was deliberately turned off to see if the other engines could handle the landing.
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Starship has made similar flights three times before. However, it never flew beyond North America on its last two flights. Both times, it exploded shortly after launch, sending debris over the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos and forcing flight diversions.
The launchpad is near a state park and wildlife refuge in Boca Chica, Texas. This has raised concerns among environmentalists. Reports from the Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality show that SpaceX violated the Clean Water Act by releasing tens of thousands of gallons of wastewater. The company was fined about $150,000 in September 2024.
Environmental groups also report that launches have destroyed nests of vulnerable shorebirds in the area.
SpaceX says two different problems caused the failures. The January failure was due to a stronger-than-expected vibration, which stressed the rocket's propulsion hardware. The March failure was caused by a hardware failure in one engine, leading to a fire onboard.
After investigating, SpaceX said these failures happened at similar points in flight but were caused by different issues.
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