SpaceX launches ninth Starship test flight before spacecraft breaks apart

May 27 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched its ninth test flight of Starship on Tuesday before losing contact an hour later as the spacecraft broke apart upon re-entry and the first-stage Super Heavy booster -- in its first reflight -- exploded before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

"As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid, unscheduled disassembly," SpaceX confirmed in a post on X. "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's test will help us improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary."

Starship lifted off from Starbase, Texas, at 7:30 p.m. EDT and was streamed live on SpaceX's website.

"Liftoff of Starship!" SpaceX wrote in a post on X, shortly after the launch.

The test flight was the first launch powered by a "flight-proven Super Heavy booster," which SpaceX hopes will one day be "capable of multiple launches per day."

"Starship's Raptor engines ignite during hot-staging separation," SpaceX wrote next in a post on X. "Super Heavy is boosting back towards its splashdown site and preparing for its high angle of attack entry."

SpaceX announced five minutes later that Starship's "ascent burn is complete and is now coasting through space" as it prepared to re-enter the inner atmosphere before landing in the Indian Ocean. Some of the protective thermal tiles, usually attached to protect Starship from heat, had been removed for experimental purposes as a variety of different tile options were evaluated during the launch.

Starship had planned to execute experiments after blastoff to generate data intended to help improve the vessel's future dependability and performance. While the Starship stage of the rocket attempted to deploy eight satellite simulators for the first time ever, it was unsuccessful.

Starship also failed to relight its engine while in space after SpaceX lost control of the vehicle due to fuel leaks. Starship spun uncontrollably and was not able to re-orient itself for re-entry, according to SpaceX's Dan Huot.

It "did spring a leak in some of the fuel tank systems inside of Starship," Huot said. "This lowers the chance for it to be a controlled reentry."

"We'll still get as much data as we can. We're still getting live telemetry, live views ... the entire time, and will continue to stick with ship as it continues on," added Huot, before confirming that Starship broke apart during re-entry.

As Starship broke apart, Super Heavy booster exploded before it could achieve splashdown in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX said it plans to study the data.

"First reflight of a Super Heavy booster! Today's test objectives were designed to intentionally push Super Heavy to the limits, giving us real-world data about its performance that will directly feed in to making the next generation booster even more capable," SpaceX said.

Starship's two previous test flights also ended with destruction, but those flights failed ten minutes after launch. Starship's ninth test flight lasted more than an hour.

Starship was cleared for the ninth flight test in May after the Starship 8 mission in March stopped commercial air traffic in Florida. SpaceX lost communication with the spacecraft shortly after launch. The spacecraft suffered engine failure and automatically self-destructed, sending debris falling across parts of South Florida and the Atlantic Ocean.

The Starship 7 mission in January also exploded shortly after launch, sending debris into the Gulf of Mexico.

Tuesday's launch featured a hazard zone twice the size of the one implemented for Starship 8.

The Federal Aviation Administration also required SpaceX to secure a $550 million insurance policy to cover the hazard area that spans 1,600 miles from Starbase.

According to SpaceX, Starship is "the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed," and can carry up over 165 tons of reusable parts, and more than 275 tons when expendable materials are in use. Starship spacecrafts are intended to serve multiple launches and return landings with little maintenance.

According to the SpaceX website, the Starship spacecraft is designed to "represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond."

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