SpaceX Starship megarocket upper stage lost again during 8th test flight; booster catch is successful

After a failed mission in January, SpaceX on Thursday launched its eighth suborbital flight test of its fully integrated Starship megarocket, a combination of the ship's upper stage (S34) and the Super Heavy booster (B15), at Starbase in Boca Chica Beach, Texas.

Unfortunately, history repeated itself when Starship's upper stage made it into space only to start spinning uncontrollably before losing contact and breaking apart, sending debris cascading back to earth early Thursday evening.

One of the goals of the flight was to catch the Super Heavy booster using the chopsticks on the launch tower, which was completed successfully. 

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"During Starship's ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses," SpaceX said in a statement. "We will review the data from today's flight test to better understand [the] root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship's reliability."

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has not commented following the launch, as of 7:45 p.m.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement noting it is requiring SpaceX to perform a "mishap investigation" into the loss of the Starship.

"During the event, the FAA activated a Debris Response Area and briefly slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft at their departure location," according to the statement. "Normal operations have resumed."

A mishap investigation is designed to enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again, according to the FAA.

"The FAA will be involved in every step of the SpaceX-led mishap investigation process and must approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions," according to the statement.

SpaceX announcers who were streaming during the launch said the controllers lost contact with the ship, noting a debris response plan was in effect and air traffic control was "keeping public safe."

"We fly to learn," announcers said before the broadcast ended.

The upper stage was supposed to coast in space for about 40 minutes before performing a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

A ground stop was issued for multiple Florida airports, including Miami International, due to space launch debris, according to the FAA.

As of 7:45 p.m., Miami remained grounded and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International reported a departure delay due to the debris.

After completing a January investigation into the similar loss of Starship early on its seventh flight test, several hardware and operational changes were made to increase the reliability of the upper stage, according to the company.

During the January test, all but one of Starship’s engines executed controlled shut-down sequences, leading to a loss of communication with the ship.

A pre-coordinated response plan developed by SpaceX, the FAA, and ATO (air traffic control) went into effect, ensuring no significant impacts on people, marine species or water quality. 

SpaceX reached out immediately to the government of Turks and Caicos and worked alongside the United Kingdom to coordinate recovery and cleanup efforts.

Thursday's flight followed the same suborbital trajectory as previous missions, but targeted objectives not reached in the previous test, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch. 

During the flight test, Starship was slated to deploy four Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites. They were expected to disappear upon entry. A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space was also planned.

It is unclear if those operations were completed prior to the Ship upper stage losing communication.

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The test also included several experiments focused on ensuring the Starship’s upper stage could return to the launch site.

Some of the experiments included: removing a "significant number" of tiles to stress-test vulnerable areas; multiple metallic tile options to identify which will protect the ship during reentry; non-structural versions of Starship’s catch fittings to test the fittings’ thermal performance; and smoothing and tapering a section of the tile line to address hot spots observed during reentry on the sixth flight test. 

The Super Heavy booster featured upgraded avionics, including a more powerful flight computer, improved power and network distribution, and integrated smart batteries.

The company noted "distinct vehicle and pad criteria" needed to be met prior to the return and catch of the Super Heavy booster. 

To return, the ship needed healthy systems on the booster and tower, and a final manual command from the mission’s flight director.

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"If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory for a soft splashdown in the Gulf of America," according to a statement from the company.

"We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and booster return will only take place if conditions are right," the company wrote.

The returning booster slowed from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone. 

"Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers," according to the company.

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"Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable," SpaceX wrote. "But by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle."