“SpaceX Encounters Communication Loss with Starship Rocket During Test Flight, Landing Near Turks and Caicos”

Just shy of two months following an explosion that resulted in flaming debris falling on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX conducted the launch of a massive Starship rocket on Thursday. However, during the test flight, contact was lost mere minutes after takeoff as the spacecraft began to descend uncontrollably.

The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket took off from Texas shortly before sunset. While SpaceX successfully retrieved the first-stage booster using large mechanical arms at the launch pad, the engines on the spacecraft situated on top started to power down as it soared eastward towards a planned controlled descent over the Indian Ocean, located halway across the globe. Communication was severed with the spacecraft as it entered an unmanageable spin.

The flight, which was intended to skim the edge of space, was meant to endure for an hour and release simulated satellites into orbit. Unfortunately, the spacecraft only managed to reach an altitude of nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) before encountering issues. The exact location of the spacecraft’s descent was not immediately identified.

“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.

NASA has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.

Like last time, Starship had four mock satellites to release once the craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for future missions. They resembled SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant to fall back down following their brief taste of space.

Starship’s flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the launch site just like the booster.

During the last demo, SpaceX captured the booster at the launch pad, but the spacecraft blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic. No injuries or major damage were reported.

According to an investigation that remains ongoing, leaking fuel triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecraft’s engines. The on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.

SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft following the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently cleared Starship once more for launch.

Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican border. SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape Canaveral, Florida, home to the company’s smaller Falcon rockets that ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit.

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