Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship tumbled out of control after launch in Texas on Tuesday and the first-stage Super Heavy booster exploded shortly before the craft’s planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Fuel leaks on the upper-stage vehicle caused it to spin uncontrollably before its planned re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX confirmed that the rocket broke apart during re-entry.
“Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” SpaceX said in a statement. “Teams will continue to review data and work towards our next flight test.”
The mammoth 400-foot Starship rocket was successfully launched into sub-orbit from its Starbase in Texas, but it was unable to deploy its payload – eight mock Starlink satellites – before the flight went awry.
It was the third straight major problem in a Starship launch that SpaceX has repeatedly characterized as a valuable learning experience.
“Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lot of good data to review,” Musk said in a post on X after the Starship broke apart.
He noted: “Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent.”
Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent.
Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lot of good data to review.
Launch cadence for…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 28, 2025
It was the ninth launch of a Starship rocket.
SpaceX has previously successfully launched Starship into space, and the rocket has managed to splash down into the ocean as planned. It has also caught the vessel’s reusable rocket booster stage in gigantic robotic arms on its return to Earth.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
