SpaceX catches Starship booster but loses ship in seventh flight test

SpaceX launched a new Starship rocket on Thursday, this time with an upgraded spacecraft and 10 mock satellites to practice a cargo delivery in space.

But things didn't go as planned. Though the company successfully caught the booster with giant mechanical arms at the launchpad, flight controllers lost contact with the uncrewed spaceship, which prematurely ended the test after it broke apart.

Starship, a 400-foot-tall, super-heavy-lift rocket and spaceship, blasted off shortly after 4:30 p.m. CST / 5:30 p.m. EST / 2:30 p.m. PST from the aerospace company's private space port in Boca Chica, Texas. The test flight was the rocket system's seventh, and was broadcast on both SpaceX's website and X, the social platform acquired by the business' billionaire founder Elon Musk.

Starship's expected one-hour test went awry when controllers lost communication with the ship about 8.5 minutes into flight — long before the spacecraft's intended splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Videos on X reportedly showed it breaking up and re-entering Earth's atmosphere, including a clip shared by Musk. It was not immediately known whether any damages resulted from raining debris.

"We are obviously bummed out about Ship," said Dan Huot, a SpaceX spokesman and launch commentator. "Reminder: It's a test, it's a flight test, it's an experimental vehicle, so we'll figure out what ended our day today and make sure that doesn't end our day tomorrow."

Mechanical arms at the Starship launch tower successfully catch the returned booster during the seventh flight test on Jan. 16. Credit: SpaceX screenshot

SpaceX has faced criticism for its previous Starship test failures. Its executives insist that building fast, destroying expensive hardware, and learning quickly from mistakes are all part of the company's philosophy — in stark contrast with NASA's much slower approach.

Musk has complained that federal regulations have a chokehold on his company, impeding its progress and ability to conduct rapid testing on Starship. Industry watchers have speculated that Musk's newfound close ties with President-elect Donald Trump could remove some of that bureaucratic red tape. 

The test came the same day as competitor Blue Origin's first launch of the New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The 320-foot rocket successfully reached orbit Thursday morning, though the booster did not land on an ocean barge as planned, company executives admitting it had been an ambitious goal for a brand-new launch vehicle. The two giant rocket demonstrations are a testament to the intensifying commercial space industry.

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The primary objectives for SpaceX were stress-testing the new ship and avionics, catching the booster at the launchpad for potential reuse, deploying the dummy satellites in space, and a targeted water landing. It wasn't immediately known what caused the redesigned spaceship to fail.

Trump apparently didn't observe the flight demonstration as he had for the one in November 2024. During the previous test, SpaceX waved off catching the rocket booster because of a communication glitch with the launch tower, though the feat was successfully achieved during the October test.

This time, the booster again returned to the robotic "chopsticks" as planned, greeting South Texas with its thunderous sonic boom. 

"It was incredible to see it come back down, just that silver flare in the sky, and we can still see the launch plume behind us," said Katie Tice, a SpaceX launch host. "That was very moving for me." 

Starship flies in space during its seventh test Jan. 16, shortly before flight controllers lost contact with the spacecraft. Credit: SpaceX screenshot

NASA will depend on the rocket company to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface on a modified Starship for the Artemis III and IV moon missions under a $4.2 billion contract. To do that, SpaceX first has to master refueling its spaceship in space. For Musk, Starship is also a passion project to eventually send people to Mars and build a self-sustaining city on the Red Planet.

The Starship on Thursday flew with a reused engine from the booster returned from the fifth test.