A SpaceX Starship rocket test flight exploded over the Caribbean on Thursday shortly after launch after the company unexpectedly lost contact with the rocket ship.
The company says this is part of the trial-and-error process, and the flight “will help us improve Starship’s reliability.”
Several videos of the exploded rocket falling from the sky are circulating online.
From the Bahamas via @GeneDoctor on X:
More from the Bahamas:
Video from @JohnBasham on X shows the “explosion and reentry of debris” over the Caribbean Sea:
Elon Musk’s SpaceX confirmed on X that the Starship “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost.” The company says “pre-planned contingency responses” were implemented, and they are investigating the root cause.
During Starship’s ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses.
We will review the data from today’s flight test to better…
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 7, 2025
“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability. We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests,” they said in another post:
With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability. We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests… pic.twitter.com/3ThPm0Yzky
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 7, 2025
In a statement, SpaceX says the incident occurred at 5:30 pm CT, and “final contact with Starship came approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds after liftoff.” The statement also reads, “If you believe you have identified a piece of debris, please contact your local authorities or the SpaceX Debris Hotline at 1-866-623-0234 or at recovery@spacex.com.”
According to the Associated Press, “It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online.”
According to NBC, “The next-generation Starship megarocket is expected to play a crucial part in NASA’s efforts to return to the moon. NASA selected SpaceX to carry astronauts to the lunar surface during its planned Artemis III mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2027. Musk has also said Starship could be used for future missions to Mars.”
As The Gateway Pundit reported, President Trump has also asked Elon Musk to bring Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two stranded astronauts that Biden abandoned, back to Earth “as soon as possible.”
Per AP:
Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.
This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft’s self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.
The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
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