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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
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. Spacex Successfully Launches Giant Starship Rocket, Explodes Minutes Later 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. Read On The Fox Business App 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. Starbase, Home To Elon Musk's Spacex, To Officially Become A Texas City 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." Spacex Dragon Capsule Sticks Splashdown Landing As Nasa Astronauts Return Home After Months Stuck In Space 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 article source: After 9 SpaceX Starship launches, some have been more successful than others
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Business Standard
6 days ago
- Science
- Business Standard
Starship's latest flight ends in a crash, but it's still a win for SpaceX
SpaceX's Starship — the towering rocket that is central to Elon Musk's dream of interplanetary travel — flew farther than ever before in its latest test, only to end in a crash over the Indian Ocean on Tuesday evening (local time). The fourth integrated test flight of the two-stage spacecraft marked a step forward, despite falling short of mission objectives. The 403-ft (123-metre) Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, around 6:36 pm local time. A live webcast showed the rocket rising amid plumes of exhaust and vapour, making it past earlier failure points. But soon after separation, the first-stage Super Heavy booster exploded instead of executing a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, according to news agency Reuters. Liftoff of Starship! — SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 27, 2025 The upper stage continued on its planned suborbital path, but problems mounted. About nine minutes into the flight, Starship's payload doors failed to open, preventing deployment of eight Starlink simulator payloads. SpaceX later confirmed that the vehicle lost attitude control and began spinning during its return journey. 'Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly,' SpaceX posted on X. The onboard cameras went dark roughly 45 minutes into what was supposed to be a 66-minute flight. The flight fell short of its target splashdown zone off the west coast of Australia. Despite the crash, the test was a success: Starship flew farther and lasted longer than during its previous two attempts. Elon Musk remained upbeat, promising to increase the pace of testing. 'Launch cadence for the next 3 flights will be faster — approximately one every 3 to 4 weeks,' he posted on X. Deliberate crash of super heavy booster Unlike the upper stage mishap, the Super Heavy booster's crash into the Gulf of Mexico was part of a planned experiment. This ninth integrated test flight included the first-ever reflight of a Super Heavy booster, previously used during the seventh flight and retrofitted with upgraded hardware and engines. After stage separation, the booster executed a controlled flip, a boostback burn, and a high-angle descent. Instead of attempting a precision landing or being caught by the 'Mechazilla' robotic tower, SpaceX deliberately opted for a hard splashdown to gather data on structural resilience and landing systems. The final descent used backup engines in a new configuration to simulate challenging landing scenarios. Key successes of the mission: * Starship flew farther and lasted longer compared to its previous two attempts. * First-ever reflight of a Super Heavy booster was successfully conducted with upgraded hardware and engines. * Super Heavy booster executed a controlled flip, boostback burn, and high-angle descent as planned. * Deliberate hard splashdown of the booster gathered valuable data on structural resilience and landing systems. High stakes of the mission Starship is the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever constructed and a centerpiece of Musk's Mars colonisation plan. It is also crucial to Nasa's Artemis 3 mission, which will use a variant of the spacecraft to land astronauts on the Moon. The US Federal Aviation Administration recently approved a ramp-up of Starship launches from five to 25 annually, dismissing environmental objections from conservation groups concerned about sea turtles and shorebirds. Despite three partial failures this year, each test flight has provided critical insights for the Starship programme. Musk and his team remain committed to their 'fail fast, learn fast' approach — a strategy that has already helped SpaceX dominate the commercial launch industry.
CNN
6 days ago
- Business
- CNN
SpaceX is poised to launch the ninth test flight of its Starship megarocket
Update: Date: Title: SpaceX says it knows what went wrong with the last Starship flight Content: The last two Starship test flights ended with explosive failures near islands just east of Florida. An investigation into the most recent mishap in March is ongoing. But SpaceX says it knows what went wrong. The Super Heavy booster, which provides the initial burst of power at liftoff, and the upper 171-foot (52-meter) Starship spacecraft took off with no obvious issues. After the Super Heavy burned through most of its fuel, it separated from the Starship and landed successfully in the arms of SpaceX's 'Mechazilla' launch tower. But a few engines flamed out on the way home. SpaceX said the 'most probable cause' was an ignition issue caused by abnormal thermal conditions, the company said in a May 22 statement. Separately — and more significantly — an engine of the upper Starship spacecraft, often referred to as just the 'ship,' exploded just minutes after separating from Super Heavy. Ground controllers lost contact with the vehicle, likely triggering the vehicle's automatic, emergency self-destruct feature. The likely cause of the mishap, according to SpaceX, was 'a hardware failure' in one of the ship's six engines. That issue likely led to 'inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition' — setting off an explosion in that engine. The March failure occurred at a similar point in Starship's flight path to that of the January mishap. That's when a fire broke out in the vehicle's 'attic' section that led to the vehicle to explode over Turks and Caicos. But SpaceX said the issues affecting the March and January test flights were different: January's issues centered on 'harmonic response' — or harsh vibrations — and 'flammability.' Those problems were mitigated during the March test flight, according to SpaceX. The fixes implemented before today's flight, however, included putting 'additional preload on key joints.' That basically means tightening up some screws. Update: Date: Title: An investigation into Starship's March failure is ongoing Content: Before each Starship test flight, SpaceX needs explicit approval from federal regulators because of the risky nature of these missions. And the Federal Aviation Administration gave the green light for this launch despite the fact that an investigation into what went wrong during Starship's explosive failure during Flight 8 in March remains open. The FAA said it gave SpaceX the go-ahead after determining that the company had met 'all of the rigorous safety, environmental and other licensing requirements.' It's not the first time the FAA has allowed SpaceX to launch another Starship flight with an open investigation on the books. A probe into what went wrong during Flight 7 in January, which rained debris over Turks and Caicos that even struck a car on one of the islands, was ongoing when SpaceX launched Flight 8. Update: Date: Title: Elon Musk is set to give a Starship update post-launch Content: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had been slated to deliver a speech to employees titled, 'The road to making life multiplanetary' around 1 p.m. ET. But Musk abruptly changed those plans, opting to give the speech after tonight's test flight. The event will be livestreamed on Musk's social media platform, X. This talk is postponed until after the Starship Flight 9 launch tonight Musk has given showy updates about Starship and his long-term vision for the rocket — carrying convoys of humans to establish a settlement on Mars — every few years since 2016. During such speeches, Musk tends to tick through some of the same talking points, emphasizing his view that humans need to live on other worlds in order to ensure survival of the species if a catastrophic event makes our planet unlivable. 'There's always some chance that something could go wrong on Earth. The dinosaurs are not around anymore,' Musk said during one such speech in 2022. Update: Date: Title: Here's what to expect during today's flight Content: After two very public and explosive failures, SpaceX is once again ready to send one of its Starship vehicles on a test flight. Success is not guaranteed this time, either. But the company is hoping to take some significant steps forward. Engineers have made changes to address loose hardware, propellant leaks and other issues that plagued the most recent test flights in January and March. And for the first time ever, SpaceX is reusing a Super Heavy rocket booster, the bottommost portion of the Starship system, after successfully recovering the 232-foot-tall (71-meter) vehicle during the January test flight. The hope today is that Starship, the spacecraft that rides atop Super Heavy, makes it a bit further into flight after exploding about 10 minutes into its last two missions. Here's a quick look at what's ahead:
Gizmodo
6 days ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
Watch Live as SpaceX Tries to Break Starship's Explosive Losing Streak
The world's largest rocket is gearing up for its ninth flight after suffering back-to-back anomalies. SpaceX is prepping Starship for liftoff on Tuesday, hoping the rocket fares better this time around after several improvements since its last flight. Starship is set for liftoff on Tuesday, May 27 during a launch window that opens at 7:30 p.m. ET. The fully integrated rocket will take to the skies for its ninth test flight from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The launch will be streamed live on SpaceX's website and through the company's page on X. You can tune in 30 minutes before the scheduled launch time for the live webcast. You can also watch the launch via third-party providers, which we've provided below. For its upcoming launch, SpaceX will use a Super Heavy booster that's flown before. The booster previously launched and landed during the rocket's seventh test flight on January 16, and 29 of its 33 Raptor engines have flown before. This will mark the first time SpaceX reuses a booster for its Starship rocket, which is a major step toward its reusability. Starship is a fully-reusable launch vehicle, meaning that both its Super Heavy booster and the upper stage, known as Ship, need to be caught mid-air by the 400-foot-tall Mechazilla tower. SpaceX has been making major progress with Starship's 232-foot-tall (71-meter) Super Heavy booster, catching the booster during three out of four attempts thus far. The same can't be said for the rocket's upper stage, however, which suffered glitches during the last two test flights. During Flight 7 in January, Starship's upper stage suffered an engine problem that forced an early shutdown, causing it to break apart and rain down bits of rocket debris over Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean. Less than two months later, during Flight 8, the upper stage suffered another major failure, spinning uncontrollably before breaking apart a few moments after launch. Both times, the upper stage was supposed to make a soft splashdown off the coast of Western Australia about an hour after liftoff. The failure prompted an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which conducted a safety review of the rocket. Last week, the FAA gave SpaceX the green light to launch Starship for its ninth test flight. SpaceX also reported that it had identified the problem and made 'several hardware changes,' ahead of Tuesday's liftoff, according to a statement. The company said that one of the rocket's engines failed to fire during the boostback burn, which was likely due to overheating of the engine's ignition device. SpaceX added insulation to Starship's engines this time around, hoping that it won't run into the same issue again. During Tuesday's flight, Super Heavy 'will fly a variety of experiments aimed at generating data to improve performance and reliability on future boosters,' SpaceX wrote. The rocket will also re-attempt objectives that it failed to meet during the last two test flights, including the deployment of payloads and 'multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the vehicle to the launch site for catch,' according to SpaceX. SpaceX's Starship is a key part of NASA's planned return to the Moon as part of the agency's Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2027. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is also betting on the company's Starship rocket for his plan to land humans on Mars. Ahead of Tuesday's launch, Musk will hold a company talk titled, 'The Road to Making Life Multiplanetary,' which will be live streamed on X at 1 p.m. ET.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX finally reveals why its Starship Flight 8 Ship exploded, failure traced to 'flash' in rocket's engines
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. As SpaceX gears up for the ninth test flight of its super-heavy Starship launch vehicle, the company has released findings from its investigation into the explosion of the rocket's upper stage, referred to as "ship", during its eighth test flight in March. Flight 8 launched March 6 from SpaceX's Starbase manufacturing and test facility on the southern tip of Texas. The mission largely mirrored that of Flight 7, during which the both vehicles' first stage Super Heavy boosters successfully rocketed back to Starbase to be caught by the launch tower's "Mechazilla" chopstick-like arms. Ship, however, for both Flight 7 and Flight 8, did not fare as well as its Super Heavy counterpart. (Starship Flight 9 is scheduled to launch on May 27.) Flight 7 and Flight 8 each ended in dramatic explosions over the Atlantic Ocean that could be seen from Florida, the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, raining fiery Starship debris into the drink below. Flight 7's Ship encountered a propellant leak and fire in the spacecraft's "attic," leading to its explosion and loss. Side-by-side, Flight 8 followed a very similar trajectory, but instead of a fire in the attic, Starship's last flight suffered a "flash" in what could be comparatively called its "basement," which brought about its blazing demise. In this case, "basement" is Ship's business end with six powerful Raptor rocket engines. The flight plan for Starship's eighth launch called for Ship to deploy four dummy payloads simulating SpaceX Starlink satellites about 17.5 minutes after liftoff, followed by a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean off of Western Australia roughly 50 minutes later. But it never got the chance to do either, and now we know why. A "flash" occurred near one of Ship's center, sea-level Raptor engines, followed by an "energetic event" that led to that engine's shutdown, SpaceX said in an update. The two remaining sea-level Raptors immediately terminated their thrust, as well as one of Ship's vacuum-optimized Raptor engines, causing the vehicle to begin tumbling out of control. About two minutes after the initial flash, SpaceX lost communication with the vehicle, which triggered the spacecraft's automated flight termination software and subsequent self-destruct. "The most probable root cause for the loss of Starship was identified as a hardware failure in one of the upper stage's center Raptor engines that resulted in inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition," SpaceX wrote. Super Heavy, too, though successfully returned to Starbase and the warm embrace of "Mechazilla," didn't do so without incident. Only 11 of the Flight 8 booster's 13 engines used for its initial boostback burn were successful in reigniting. Its landing burn as it approached the launch tower saw 12 of 13 engines relight, including one of the previously unlit engines from the boostback burn. SpaceX traced the cause to "torch ignition issues" on each of the malfunctioning engines, as a result of "thermal conditions local to the igniter," the company said. To mitigate these overheating issues on Starship's upcoming flight, SpaceX says they have reinforced the affected areas with additional insulation. RELATED STORIES: — Starship and Super Heavy explained — SpaceX gets FAA approval for Flight 9 of Starship megarocket — SpaceX cargo Dragon departs International Space Station, begins return journey to Earth Fixes for Starship's upper stage came down to tightening some bolts at some of Ship's more critical junctures and improving the plumbing so flammable gases don't ignite when they aren't supposed to: "Starship's upper stage will receive additional preload on key joints, a new nitrogen purge system, and improvements to the propellant drain system. Future upgrades to Starship will introduce the Raptor 3 engine which will include additional reliability improvements to address the failure mechanism." SpaceX says their investigation included more than 100 long-duration test firings of the Raptor engine at the company's McGregor, Texas, test facility, and that its efforts were overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in conjunction with NASA, the National Transportation and Safety Board and the U.S. Space Force. Now, the FAA agrees Starship is ready to fly again. In a statement released May 22, the FAA says they, "conducted a comprehensive safety review of the SpaceX Starship Flight 8 mishap and determined that the company has satisfactorily addressed the causes of the mishap, and therefore, the Starship vehicle can return to flight." The same day SpaceX released their Flight 8 investigation results, the company also officially announced the date for Flight 9. Starship's next launch is scheduled for no earlier than Tuesday, May 27, and will be the first launch of a flight-proven Super Heavy booster. Flight 9 will liftoff on the same first stage that supported Starship Flight 7, during a launch window that opens at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT). SpaceX will stream the mission live on their website, as well as their account on X. will also carry the broadcast on our homepage, starting about 30 minutes before liftoff.
