After 9 SpaceX Starship launches, some have been more successful than others
SpaceX's Starship Flight 9 ended in failure — and it is not the company's only one.
Since its first launch in April 2023, SpaceX has seen a mix of failed and successful launches. While not every launch is a success, the company often says that "success comes from what we learn."
SpaceX's first Starship flight test started with success as the spacecraft cleared the orbital launch pad for the first time. However, Starship experienced multiple engine outages, lost altitude and began to tumble. At that point, according to SpaceX, "the flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship."
The company experienced another issue during its first flight test beyond what SpaceX livestream hosts described as a "rapid unscheduled disassembly." While the rocket was built to be reusable, no part of the rocket was recovered.
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Months after its first flight test failed, SpaceX once again launched Starship. While SpaceX celebrated a number of major milestones with this launch and saw Starship make it further than the first flight, it still ended in failure.
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Starship's takeoff was successful in this second test, but the separation from the Super Heavy booster ended in an explosion. Despite this premature ending, SpaceX classified the separation itself and the Super Heavy booster's flip maneuver to being successful. Once again, the spacecraft experienced a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."
The third Starship test flight was the first to be considered a success. In its third test, it met the same key milestones as the first two, and it ultimately went further than either of its predecessors.
As the first successful test flight, the Starship was able to experience its first-ever reentry to Earth from space, which gave SpaceX "valuable data on heating and vehicle control during hypersonic reentry."
Celebrating the company's success, SpaceX founder Elon Musk vowed "Starship will take humanity to Mars" following the test flight.
SpaceX's fourth test flight was also a success from takeoff to reentry. Additionally, Starlink was able to capture live high-definition video throughout every phase of reentry, according to SpaceX.
"Flight 4 ended with Starship igniting its three center Raptor engines and executing the first flip maneuver and landing burn since our suborbital campaign, followed by a soft splashdown of the ship in the Indian Ocean one hour and six minutes after launch," SpaceX wrote in a summary of the launch on its website.
Musk celebrated in a post on X, saying that despite Starship losing "many tiles" and ending up with a "damaged flap," the spacecraft successfully made its soft landing in the ocean.
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In the fifth flight test for SpaceX's Starship, the company achieved a major milestone as Mechazilla's mechanical arms successfully captured the Super Heavy booster, making the reusable design closer to reality. Musk hailed the achievement as "science fiction without the fiction part."
SpaceX celebrated the successful test in a post on X, saying that the ability to launch and return are "fundamental techniques" for Starship's reusable design.
Then-former President Donald Trump reacted to the launch during a campaign rally in Arizona just weeks before the 2024 election. Trump told a crowd of supporters that he "never saw anything like it." He joked that the booster needed a new paint job, which is "a lot cheaper than building a new one."
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Just over a month after SpaceX's impressive achievement during its October 2024 launch, the company saw another successful launch but did not execute a catch at the launch site as it did with its fifth test flight.
Not all the criteria for a booster catch were met, which led to the decision not to go through with the move, according to PBS, which cited SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot. The outlet added that Huot did not mention any specific issue. However, SpaceX says on its webpage dedicated to the launch that the booster pulled off a "pre-planned divert maneuver" before its splashdown in the Gulf of America.
In its first flight test of 2025, SpaceX saw its Starship experience another "rapid unscheduled disassembly." As the Starship upper stage performed its ascent burn to space, SpaceX lost contact approximately eight and a half minutes into the test flight.
Despite the issues with the Starship upper stage, the Super Heavy booster made a successful landing and was caught back at the launchpad.
On its seventh test flight, Starship was carrying mock satellites which SpaceX reportedly planned to use to practice releasing them, according to Reuters. Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was briefly forced to slow down and divert flights that could have been in the path of debris from the Starship, though normal operations eventually resumed.
Musk seemed to take it in stride, writing on X that "Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!"
Starship's eighth test flight ended when several engines failed, and SpaceX lost connection with the spacecraft approximately nine and a half minutes after it was launched. Ultimately, Starship exploded off the coast of Florida.
While the flight was a failure, SpaceX was able to execute a successful booster catch for the third time.
The FAA said that the test impacted 240 flights, more than two dozen of which were forced to divert due to concerns about debris, according to Reuters. Additionally, the FAA issued ground stops for just over an hour in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Palm Beach.
In total, there were 171 departure delays, 28 flights were diverted, and 40 airborne flights were held for an average of 22 minutes, Reuters reported. The outlet said that the average delay time for the 171 flights was 28 minutes.
SpaceX's ninth Starship test flight ended in failure. The mission aimed to deploy eight Starlink simulator satellites and test reentry with 100 heat shield tiles intentionally removed.
The payload door failed to open during the flight. Any parts of the aircraft that did not disintegrate upon reentry landed in the Indian Ocean.
Despite the failure, Musk noted a "big improvement" since Starship's last flight as the craft made it to the scheduled engine cutoff. Additionally, he said there was "no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent."
Fox News Digital's Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.Original article source: After 9 SpaceX Starship launches, some have been more successful than others
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