SpaceX’s Super Heavy-Starship, touted as the most powerful rocket ever built, suffered a catastrophic failure during its second test flight on Saturday. The 397-foot-tall rocket blasted off from SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch site on the Texas Gulf Coast but broke apart soon after launch. The unpiloted Starship upper stage was also lost, bringing an abrupt and premature end to the flight.
The launch, which attracted thousands of spectators and journalists, followed an initial test flight in April that ended with a spectacular conflagration due to multiple first stage engine failures and problems separating the Starship from the Super Heavy booster.
In response to the mishaps, the FAA ordered 63 “corrective” items, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk stated that the company implemented “well over a thousand” changes to enhance safety and performance.
The Super Heavy-Starship combination is crucial for SpaceX and NASA, with NASA investing billions for a variant of the Starship to carry Artemis astronauts back to the moon’s surface. SpaceX also plans to use the rocket to expand its fleet of Starlink internet satellites and to power low-cost government and commercial flights to the moon, Mars, and beyond.
While this failed test flight is a setback for both SpaceX and NASA, multiple test flights will be required to demonstrate the reliability needed for astronaut flights. It is not yet clear when the first Artemis moon landing might take place or how long it might take to demonstrate the rocket’s reliability.