SpaceX's Starship excels on test flight but crashes on reentry

SpaceX's Starship rocket launched on its third test flight from Boca Chica, Texas' Starbase facility Thursday morning and achieved many benchmarks before possibly breaking apart.

The integrated flight test of the deep-space rocket system lasted nearly an hour. The massive spaceship was scheduled to splash down in the Indian Ocean after the trip, allowing it to perform more complex test flights and eventually deliver NASA people to the moon.

Reentry cut off communication with Starlink, SpaceX's internet service, and TDRSS, or Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

“The team has made the call that the ship has been lost, so no splashdown today,” said Dan Huot, SpaceX communications manager, during the live broadcast. “But again, just it’s incredible to see how much further we got this time around.”

SpaceX's private Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, launched the Starship vehicle, which contains the upper Starship spaceship and the Super Heavy rocket booster, at 8:25 a.m. CT (9:25 a.m. ET).

SpaceX believes the Starship system essential to its founding objective of sending humans to Mars. Importantly, NASA has chosen Starship as the landing vehicle for the September 2026 Artemis III mission to the moon.

“Congrats to SpaceX on a successful test flight! Starship has soared into the heavens. Together, we are making great strides through Artemis to return humanity to the Moon— then look onward to Mars,” wrote NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The launch vehicle's first stage, the Super Heavy booster, roared to life and flew over the Gulf of Mexico.

After burning most of its fuel, the Super Heavy rocket separated from the Starship spaceship, its upper stage.

The booster was expected to make an autonomous, controlled landing in the ocean, but the booster “didn’t light all the engines that we expected and we did lose the booster,” Huot said.

“A mishap occurred during the SpaceX Starship OFT-3 mission that launched from Boca Chica, Texas, on March 14,” the FAA said. “No public injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA is overseeing the SpaceX-led mishap investigation to ensure the company complies with its FAA-approved mishap investigation plan and other regulatory requirements.”