SpaceX Starship Rocket Fails Again, NASA Moon Mission at Risk
(MENAFN) SpaceX encountered a significant blow to its ambitions on Tuesday night, as its massive Starship rocket was lost mid-mission, marking the third straight failure of the upper-stage vehicle. This latest mishap casts growing doubt on Elon Musk’s Mars aspirations and the company’s pivotal role in NASA’s upcoming lunar expeditions.
The 122-meter rocket thundered off the launch pad at 7:37 p.m. local time from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas (0337 GMT Wednesday). But despite initial success, both the reusable Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft failed to complete their planned objectives and were ultimately destroyed. This flight was notable for being the first attempt to recover and reuse a Super Heavy booster.
"We have lost attitude control," said Dan Huot, a SpaceX spokesperson, during the company’s official webcast. He further added that the rocket “did spring a leak in some of the fuel tank systems inside of Starship.”
Equipped with 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines, the Super Heavy booster began to falter during its attempt to reignite for a descent and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The booster was undergoing a more demanding flight profile as part of test criteria to stretch its capabilities—ultimately leading to its destruction.
Initially, the Starship upper stage appeared to be operating nominally. However, a problem with a payload door prevented the release of eight test Starlink satellites meant to evaluate deployment procedures in orbit.
After fuel system leaks led to a loss of attitude control, the spacecraft could no longer position itself correctly for reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. As a result, mission teams opted to “passivate” the vehicle—venting its remaining propellant to safely trigger an uncontrolled descent into the Indian Ocean.
This test was the ninth flight in the Starship program and the latest in a series of developmental setbacks for the advanced Block 2 upper stage design. The persistent failures are raising red flags for NASA, which is relying on a human-rated variant of Starship to carry astronauts to the Moon by 2027 as part of the Artemis program.
As a news agency reported, SpaceX is “under pressure to have a fully successful launch since it has yet to fly a successful mission with the Block 2 Starship second stage.”
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