WASHINGTON: Hours after Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin completed its first orbital mission, SpaceX grabbed the spotlight Thursday as the latest test of Starship, its massive next-generation megarocket, launched into the Atlantic Ocean. ended with a dramatic dispersal of the upper phase.
In terms of sheer excitement, Elon Musk’s company did not disappoint, demonstrating its technological prowess for the second time by holding a first-stage booster in the “copstick” arms of its launch tower.
But the victory was short-lived when the teams lost contact with the top stage car. SpaceX later confirmed that it had undergone a “rapid unscheduled decommissioning”, the company’s euphemism for an explosion.
A longer, improved version of the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built lifted off from the company’s starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, for its seventh test at 4:37pm (2237GMT).
The glowing prototype rocket is key to Musk’s ambitions to colonize Mars, while NASA hopes to use a modified version as a human lunar lander.
About seven minutes after liftoff, the superheavy booster slowed to supersonic speed — producing a sonic boom — before landing gracefully in the launch tower’s waiting arms, prompting applause from ground control teams.
The maneuver was first successfully performed in October, but not in November, when the Superheavy instead performed a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
Shortly after the latest booster catch, however, announcers on a live webcast confirmed that the upper stage vehicle had been lost following a propulsion anomaly.
The FlightAware tracker showed several aircraft on a changing course in the Atlantic near the Turks and Caicos Islands, while users on X shared dramatic footage of the spacecraft allegedly disintegrating in a fiery crash during re-entry. was depicted.
“Success is uncertain, but fun is guaranteed!” Musk wrote on X while sharing one of the clips. He added that the cause of the explosion appears to be an “oxygen/fuel leak” and the company will take corrective measures.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the agency “briefly diverted the aircraft around the area where the spacecraft debris was falling.”
Best wishes
Ahead of the SpaceX launch, Blue Origin’s massive New Glenn rocket reached orbital space for the first time, marking a potential turning point in the commercial space race.
SpaceX has long dominated orbital launches with its Falcon 9 rocket, winning contracts from private companies, the Pentagon and NASA.
In contrast, Blue Origin was limited to short-hop suborbital flights with its smaller New Shepard rocket — but could now look to chip away at SpaceX’s market share.
Although the two tech titans have had controversial pasts, Musk congratulated Bezos for “getting to orbit on the first try,” and hours later Bezos returned the favor.
“Good luck today @ElonMusk and the entire SpaceX team!!” The founder of Amazon wrote on X.
Meanwhile, outgoing NASA chief Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX on the booster catch, adding: “Spaceflight is not easy.”
For this flight, SpaceX announced that it had made several upgrades, increasing the size of the Starship by a few feet to 403 feet (123 meters) in length. New Glen is 320 feet (98 m) tall.
While its Falcon rockets remain workhorses, SpaceX has made it clear that it sees starships as its future.
The first three test flights ended in dramatic explosions, resulting in damage to the vehicles. However, SpaceX has quickly iterated on its design, reflecting its “fail fast, learn fast” philosophy.
Musk now plans to rapidly increase the frequency of tests, asking the FAA for permission to do 25 in 2025, up from just four in 2024.
The agency is holding public hearings on potential environmental and regulatory concerns, amid allegations that SpaceX has damaged environmentally sensitive areas and violated wastewater regulations.
But with Musk now part of Trump’s inner circle, the billionaire could have a smoother ride under the incoming administration.
Meanwhile, Bezos and fellow tech mogul Mark Zuckerberg are scheduled to attend the president-elect’s inauguration on Monday, signaling a warming relationship.