SpaceX’s ambitious Starship programme hit another stumbling block as its ninth test flight ended in failure during splashdown on Wednesday.
CEO Elon Musk attributed the setback to fuel leaks, marking the third consecutive test flight to encounter serious issues.
The launch, which took place at 7:36 p.m. EDT (5:06 a.m. IST) from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, initially showed promise. Starship successfully reached orbit—traveling farther than its two prior test attempts.
However, a cascade of technical problems ultimately doomed the mission.
A malfunction in the payload bay door prevented the release of the mock Starlink satellites, a key goal of the flight. Roughly 30 minutes after launch, SpaceX confirmed a fuel tank leak aboard the upper stage.
The Super Heavy booster, which forms the rocket’s first stage, exploded just before splashdown.
Meanwhile, live footage showed the upper stage spinning uncontrollably due to a loss of tank pressure, reportedly caused by the fuel leak.
“Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase,” Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter).
According to SpaceX, contact with the Super Heavy booster was lost shortly after it initiated its landing burn.
The company described the incident as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” — a euphemism often used in aerospace to describe unplanned explosions.
Despite the failure, Musk emphasized the progress made.
“Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over the last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Lot of good data to review,” he wrote.
SpaceX confirmed it will analyse the mission data to refine future flights. “We will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test,” the company stated.
Standing at 403 feet (123 meters), the Starship and its Super Heavy booster form the world’s tallest and most powerful rocket system.
The vehicle is central to NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon by 2026.
