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ABC News
a day ago
- Science
- ABC News
SpaceX Starship rocket explodes in latest setback to Musk's Mars mission
SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft has exploded in a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas. It is the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk's Mars rocket program. The explosion occurred about 11pm local time while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase. The spacecraft was preparing for its 10th test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Mr Musk's social media platform X. The company attributed it to a "major anomaly", and said all personnel were safe. Mr Musk said preliminary data suggested a nitrogen gas storage unit, known as a "composite overwrapped pressure vessel", had "failed below its proof pressure". "If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design," he said in a post on X. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from Reuters. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying. The 122-metre rocket system is at the core of Mr Musk's goal to send humans to Mars, but it has been beset by a string of failures this year. In late May, SpaceX's Starship rocket spun out of control about halfway through a flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals. The Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. Two months earlier, the spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida. Videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed. Mr Musk said the explosion was "a minor setback". The FAA said this month it had closed an agency-required investigation into the mishap, citing a hardware failure in one of the engines as the probable cause. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a recurrence and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those prior to the late May Starship mission. In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Reuters
Irish Times
a day ago
- Science
- Irish Times
SpaceX Starship rocket explodes during testing in setback to Musk's Mars mission
SpaceX's massive Starship spacecraft exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas late on Wednesday, the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk's Mars rocket programme. The explosion occurred at about 11pm local time while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase while preparing for the 10th test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Mr Musk's social media platform X. The company attributed it to a 'major anomaly', and said all personnel were safe. 'Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure,' Mr Musk said in a post on X, in a reference to a nitrogen gas storage unit known as a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. READ MORE 'If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design,' he continued. SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded. The 122m (400ft) tall Starship rocket system is at the core of Mr Musk's goal of sending humans to Mars. But it has been beset by a string of failures this year. In late May, SpaceX's Starship rocket spun out of control about halfway through a flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals. The Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. Two months earlier, the spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida. Videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed. Mr Musk called that explosion 'a minor setback'. The FAA said earlier this month it had closed an agency-required investigation into the mishap, citing the probable cause as a hardware failure in one of the engines. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a recurrence and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those before the late May Starship mission. In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands. – Reuters
The Guardian
a day ago
- Science
- The Guardian
The moment Elon Musk's SpaceX's Starship 36 explodes
One of Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets exploded during a routine test in Texas. The Starship 36 suffered 'catastrophic failure and exploded' at the Starbase launch facility according to the Cameron County authorities. Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket. It is central to Musk's long-term vision of colonising Mars. This is the latest setback, with SpaceX betting that its 'fail fast, learn fast' ethos will eventually pay off
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
500 Falcon missions! SpaceX sends 26 Starlink satellites to orbit on landmark launch
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX just notched another big launch milestone. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 26 of the company's Starlink internet satellites lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday (June 12) at 9:54 p.m. EDT (6:54 p.m. PDT local time, or 0154 GMT on June 13). The satellites were deployed in low Earth orbit (LEO) about an hour later as planned, the company announced via X. And, with that success, SpaceX's Falcon rocket family hit a very significant round number. Booster 1081 missions Crew-7 | CRS-29 | PACE | Transporter-10 | EarthCARE | NROL-186 | Transporter-13 | 7 Starlink missions "Falcon completes its 500th overall mission! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team for making the impossible possible on the road to rapidly reusable rockets!" SpaceX said in another X post on Thursday night. And speaking of reusability: The Falcon 9's first stage, serial B1081, came back to Earth on Thursday night, touching down on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You," which was stationed off the coast of Southern California. It was the 15th launch and landing for the booster, according to SpaceX's web page for the 15-6 mission. SpaceX's record for reusing a Falcon 9 first stage stands at 28 launches. The 26 newly launched spacecraft will soon join more than 7,600 active satellites in the Starlink megaconstellation, the largest satellite network ever assembled. SpaceX, led by billionaire Elon Musk, bills the Starlink service as "high-speed internet around the world" and its satellite megaconstellation does now reach around the planet. A growing number of the spacecraft support direct-to-cell capabilities, enabling texting and internet service from certain smart phones and service providers. With Thursday's launch in the books, SpaceX has now launched 72 Falcon 9 missions in 2025, of which 54 have been in support of the Starlink service. Editor's note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. ET on June 13 with the news that this was the 500th completed Falcon mission overall for SpaceX.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX fires up Super Heavy booster ahead of Starship's 10th test flight (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX is already gearing up for the next flight of its Starship megarocket, just a week and a half after the most recent one left the ground. The company performed a long-duration "static fire" test with Super Heavy, Starship's huge first-stage booster, at its Starbase site in South Texas on Friday (June 6). All 33 of Super Heavy's Raptor engines lit up during the trial, SpaceX said in a Friday X post that shared a photo and two short videos of the action. The test was part of the preparations for Starship's next launch, according to the X post. That flight will be the 10th to date of a fully stacked Starship — a Super Heavy topped with an upper stage known as Starship, or Ship for short. Starship Flight 9 lifted off from Starbase just last week, on May 27. It was a landmark launch — the first ever that featured a used Super Heavy. That booster first flew on Flight 7 in January; on that mission, it came back to Starbase for a dramatic catch by the launch tower's "chopstick" arms. There was no such attempt on Flight 9; SpaceX performed a variety of experiments with Super Heavy on May 27 and decided to bring it down for a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico for safety's sake. The booster didn't quite make it, however, breaking apart about 6.5 minutes after launch, just after beginning its landing burn. Related stories: — SpaceX reached space with Starship Flight 9 launch, then lost control of its giant spaceship (video) — Starship and Super Heavy explained — Will 2025 be the year of Starship? SpaceX's megarocket is growing up. Ship didn't stay together on Flight 9, either. The upper stage reached space on a suborbital trajectory but began tumbling about 30 minutes after liftoff. As a result, the vehicle couldn't come in for a soft splashdown off the coast of Western Australia as planned. SpaceX lost contact with Ship about 46 minutes into flight; its pieces likely now rest on the Indian Ocean seafloor. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is requiring an investigation into what happened on Flight 9. Flight 10 cannot lift off until that inquiry is concluded to the agency's satisfaction.
