SpaceX nailed the landing of its first-stage Super Heavy booster during the seventh test of its mighty Starship rocket on Thursday, but the upper-stage Starship spacecraft suffered what SpaceX likes to call a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” (in regular-speak, it blew up) soon after stage-separation.
A short while later, clips started appearing on social media apparently showing bits of the uncrewed Starship falling back to Earth near the Turks and Caicos Islands about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) east of the rocket’s launch site near Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX chief Elon Musk reposted one of them, saying: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!” However, it was later reported that the FAA had to divert a number of flights in the area to ensure aircraft were kept away from the descending debris. It’s also currently unknown if any of the debris reached land or if all of it landed in the sea.
Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed! ✨
pic.twitter.com/nn3PiP8XwG— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
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Another video showed events from a different angle:
Starship Flight 7 breaking up and re-entering over Turks and Caicos pic.twitter.com/iuQ0YAy17O
— Alex D. (@adavenport354) January 16, 2025
“Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn,” the spaceflight company said in a post on X. “Teams will continue to review data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause.”
It added: “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability.”
During the live-stream commentary on SpaceX’s X account, Dan Huot said that the Starship spacecraft “successfully separated,” adding: “We did see that hot staging maneuver and we did see all six of Ship’s engines on the way uphill during its ascent, but as we were getting to the end of that ascent and burn we saw engines dropping out on telemetry, and we have since lost contact with the Ship. At this point, we are assuming that the ship has been lost.”
Meanwhile, SpaceX managed to bring home the first-stage for a second time, achieving a spectacular landing back at the launch tower using giant mechanical arms to secure the booster above the ground. The breathtaking maneuver allows SpaceX to reuse the rocket multiple times, thereby reducing launch costs. Once fully tested, NASA and SpaceX will use the Starship for crew and cargo flights to the moon, Mars, and beyond.