SpaceX’s Starship Breaks Apart Shortly After Liftoff

SpaceX’s seventh launch of its starship mega rocket ended with an “unscheduled disassembly” on Thursday evening.

While the first-stage booster was successfully "caught" back at the launch stand, the new-generation Starship upper stage appeared to break apart as it neared space. “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn,” SpaceX stated following the mishap. “Teams will continue to review data from today's flight test to better understand root cause. With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability.”

According to a Forbes report, the mission was expected to last just over an hour and included several key experiments. These included Starship’s first payload deployment test, involving 10 replica Starlink satellites, as well as assessments of upgrades to the spacecraft’s flight computer, avionics and heat shield.

SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk took to X speculating that an oxygen or fuel leak could have been the cause of the disassembly. “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.”

Meanwhile, the FAA reported that air traffic at Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport experienced delays of up to an hour due to the incident. The agency issued a notice warning pilots of what it described as a “dangerous area for falling debris of rocket Starship.”