SpaceX says its Starship rocket broke up mid-flight as videos of debris emerge online

On By Littum

SpaceX said Thursday that its Starship spacecraft broke up during a flight to test the megarocket’s capabilities.

The upper stage of the rocket system appears to have disintegrated somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico or possibly the Caribbean Sea. Shortly after SpaceX said it lost contact with the spacecraft, videos appeared on social media showing debris streaming across the sky.

Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and CEO, shared a video of the trash on Xwrites: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”

No one was aboard the Starship, which is still being tested for future missions to the moon and beyond.

SpaceX’s seventh test flight of Starship started off without a hitch, with the rocket lifting off and its booster returning to land intact at the company’s “Starbase” launch site near Brownsville, Texas.

The problems began soon after, when SpaceX lost contact with the Starship about nine minutes after liftoff. Kate Tice, SpaceX’s senior manager of quality systems, said the company had lost the ship, and SpaceX wrote on X that it had experienced a “rapid unplanned disassembly.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that it is “aware that an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starship Flight 7 mission” and that the agency is “evaluating the operation and will issue an updated statement.”

A SpaceX video published earlier Thursday showed that the planned trajectory of the Starship would go from the southern tip of Texas across the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula, then east near Cuba and across the Atlantic Ocean. Had the flight gone as planned, it would have ultimately splashed into the Indian Ocean.

Starship is the most powerful rocket ever developed, measuring 400 feet tall. The rocket has two parts: a first-stage booster known as the Super Heavy and the upper stage Starship spacecraft.

The system is expected to play a critical role in NASA’s efforts to return to the moon. The agency selected SpaceX to transport astronauts to the lunar surface during NASA’s planned Artemis III mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2027. Musk has also said that Starship could be used for future missions to Mars.

Accidents are not uncommon during the testing of new rockets and spacecraft. SpaceX’s first attempt to launch Starship in 2023 ended in a fiery explosion minutes after liftoff. The incident triggered a months-long safety review and drew attention to the environmental consequences of launching rockets from the Gulf Coast in south Texas.

Jason Abbruzzese

Jason Abbruzzese is the assistant managing editor for technology and science for NBC News Digital.

Denise Chow

Denise Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.

Colin Sheeley and Nollaig O’Connor the contribution.