SpaceX launched its seventh test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a booster catch back at the pad.
Elon Musk‘s company said Starship broke apart, calling it a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” The rocket appeared to lift off from SpaceX’s launchpad at its Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, but eight and a half minutes into the mission, ground control announced that it had lost all communication with the ship.
Flights near the Turks and Caicos islands were spotted diverting to avoid the debris from the explosion on Thursday and footage was shared of debris falling from the sky in the area.
Musk shared a video of the debris falling, writing, “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”
The Federal Aviation Administration announced a brief slowdown of flights in and around the Florida area due to possible falling debris from the launch.
The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world, similar to previous tests. SpaceX packed the new and upgraded model with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them.
A minute before the loss, SpaceX used the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms to catch the returning booster, a feat achieved only once before. The descending super heavy first-stage booster hovered over the launch pad before being gripped by the pair of robotic arms, dubbed chopsticks.
There were no astronauts on board the test flight mission and the last data received from the spacecraft indicated an altitude of 146 kilometres and a velocity of 13,245 km/h.
“Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the wind capacity,” Musk wrote on X a few hours after Flight 7 launched. “Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month.”
It was the seventh test flight for the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket. The mission marked the second time that SpaceX has been able to return and catch the stage booster using the launch tower.
NASA has reserved a pair of Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade, while Musk’s ultimate goal is Mars.
He also plans to launch actual Starlinks on Starships before moving on to other satellites and, eventually, crews.
—With files from The Associated Press