SpaceX's Starship's ninth test flight started smoothly, leading many to believe it might be successful, but then the real trouble began.
After the last two test flights ended prematurely with the destruction of the aircraft, Tuesday's Starship successfully reached orbit. However, the spacecraft failed to fully open its payload bay door, blocking the planned release of simulated Starlink satellites. Around 30 minutes into the mission, SpaceX confirmed a fuel tank leak aboard the vehicle.
In the footage, the first-stage Super Heavy booster exploded shortly before its expected splashdown, and fuel leaks on the upper-stage vehicle caused it to spin uncontrollably before its planned re-entry through Earth's atmosphere.
The company posted a statement on X reading, "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test. 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 multiplanetary.”
“We’ve been dealing with some leaks on the Ship,” SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot said on the livestream. “This is also what led to that loss of attitude control. So at this point, we are kind of in a spin.”
Due to the issue, mission controllers scrapped a planned demonstration to reignite one of Starship’s Raptor engines while in orbit.
Despite the complications, Starship is still on course to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down in the Indian Ocean. However, the uncontrolled spin raises serious concerns about its heat shield surviving the descent.
“As we are not able to control the attitude of the ship as we get into entry, it will enter in whatever orientation it is in at the time, which does not bode well for the ship’s heat shield,” Huot said. “So it is definitely coming down. It is definitely heading to the Indian Ocean, but our chances of making it all the way down are pretty slim.”
Ahead of the ninth starship test, Space X chief Elon Musk emphasised the significance of tile functionality.
In his discussion with YouTuber Tim Dodd, he stated, "By far most important thing is high heating phase of re-entry and seeing how the tiles perform. Think of this as a tiles mission."
Musk explained that this testing is vital for SpaceX's quick reusability objectives, particularly for efficiently transporting humans to Mars, a goal he intends to achieve in the near future.
In his assessment of NASA's Artemis programme, which plans to return humans to the moon, Musk described it as "objectively feeble" when compared to SpaceX's Mars mission.
He criticised the limited scope of Artemis, stating, "The goals of Artemis are so small. We should either do a base on the moon or we should send humans to Mars, not just try to do the same thing they did 56 years ago."
After the last two test flights ended prematurely with the destruction of the aircraft, Tuesday's Starship successfully reached orbit. However, the spacecraft failed to fully open its payload bay door, blocking the planned release of simulated Starlink satellites. Around 30 minutes into the mission, SpaceX confirmed a fuel tank leak aboard the vehicle.
UPDATE SpaceX's prototype Starship has exploded over the Indian Ocean, capping another bumpy test flight for the rocket central to billionaire Elon Musk's dream of colonizing Marshttps://t.co/KB4f8CnBGD pic.twitter.com/b9V5bMaZAj
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 28, 2025
In the footage, the first-stage Super Heavy booster exploded shortly before its expected splashdown, and fuel leaks on the upper-stage vehicle caused it to spin uncontrollably before its planned re-entry through Earth's atmosphere.
Goodbye Super Heavy booster pic.twitter.com/lHsXS2seIF
— Jack Kuhr (@JackKuhr) May 27, 2025
The company posted a statement on X reading, "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test. 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 multiplanetary.”
As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 28, 2025
With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s…
“We’ve been dealing with some leaks on the Ship,” SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot said on the livestream. “This is also what led to that loss of attitude control. So at this point, we are kind of in a spin.”
Due to the issue, mission controllers scrapped a planned demonstration to reignite one of Starship’s Raptor engines while in orbit.
Despite the complications, Starship is still on course to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down in the Indian Ocean. However, the uncontrolled spin raises serious concerns about its heat shield surviving the descent.
“As we are not able to control the attitude of the ship as we get into entry, it will enter in whatever orientation it is in at the time, which does not bode well for the ship’s heat shield,” Huot said. “So it is definitely coming down. It is definitely heading to the Indian Ocean, but our chances of making it all the way down are pretty slim.”
Ahead of the ninth starship test, Space X chief Elon Musk emphasised the significance of tile functionality.
In his discussion with YouTuber Tim Dodd, he stated, "By far most important thing is high heating phase of re-entry and seeing how the tiles perform. Think of this as a tiles mission."
Musk explained that this testing is vital for SpaceX's quick reusability objectives, particularly for efficiently transporting humans to Mars, a goal he intends to achieve in the near future.
Got to catch up with @elonmusk for a few minutes before today's launch! We were going to chat after today's speech, but unfortunately that changed, but, always happy to talk rockets!!! Join our Flight 9 coverage in 15 minutes!! Best of luck today @SpaceX!!! pic.twitter.com/KJNEtiyJ2d
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) May 27, 2025
In his assessment of NASA's Artemis programme, which plans to return humans to the moon, Musk described it as "objectively feeble" when compared to SpaceX's Mars mission.
He criticised the limited scope of Artemis, stating, "The goals of Artemis are so small. We should either do a base on the moon or we should send humans to Mars, not just try to do the same thing they did 56 years ago."
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