SpaceX conducted a test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, with the booster successfully returning to the pad, but contact with the spacecraft was lost as its engines failed.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX confirmed the destruction of the spacecraft following the incident.
The mission involved flying the spacecraft across the Gulf of Mexico on a global loop with 10 dummy satellites for deployment practice. This was the first flight of the upgraded spacecraft.
SpaceX used mechanical arms to catch the booster back at the pad after liftoff from Texas. The descending booster was caught by mechanical arms dubbed chopsticks.
The rocket launched from Boca Chica and aimed for a controlled descent over the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX upgraded the catch tower and the spacecraft for this test flight, which included test satellites similar to Starlink internet satellites.
Elon Musk plans to launch actual Starlink satellites on Starships before progressing to other satellites and crewed missions.
This was the seventh test flight for the world’s largest rocket, with NASA reserving Starships for future moon missions and Musk’s ultimate goal of reaching Mars.
“Every Starship launch brings us closer to Mars,” Musk stated before the liftoff.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket successfully placing an experimental satellite in orbit, although the first-stage booster was destroyed during landing.
