SpaceX Starship successfully launches before losing contact mid-reentry
SpaceX Starship May 27 test launch: Full
SpaceX launched their superheavy Starship in a ninth test launch on Tuesday, May 27.
BOCA CHICA BEACH, TEXAS - MARCH 06: SpaceX Starship Flight 8 takes off from Orbital Launch Pad A at Boca Chica beach on March 06, 2025 in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. The SpaceX Starship Flight 8 test launched and successfully caught its booster upon des
STARBASE, Texas - SpaceX has lost contact with its Starship rocket after launching from southern Texas on Tuesday night.
The FAA signed off on the ninth test of the SpaceX rocket following an explosion that caused debris to rain down across the southwest Atlantic in March. The previous test also resulted in an explosion.
SpaceX Launch
The Starship rocket successfully lifted off in SpaceX's ninth test flight for the program. The launch took place after about a five-minute stall, which began when an automated system prevented an immediate takeoff.
After entering the atmosphere, the ship detached from its booster engines as planned before continuing its arc from Texas to its landing site in the Indian Ocean.
Midway through the flight, an attempt to test Starlink satellite deployment from Starship failed when the bay doors would not open as expected.
Despite this, the flight continued. Soon after, an issue with attitude control caused the ship to enter a spin, eventually causing the loss of some camera functions.
About 45 minutes into the flight, SpaceX control lost contact with the ship. The stream ended shortly after.
The team says they still consider the test flight a success in many ways, and noted that failure in some respects is expected and necessary for future advancement of progress.
Starship Launch
Source: SpaceX
Dig deeper:
SpaceX says Tuesday's scheduled flight includes several changes to hardware to improve reliability.
The test flight will include the Super Heavy booster which was launched and returned on Starship's seventh flight test.
The boosters are designed to be caught and reused, with the goal of future generations being used multiple times in a day.
Tuesday's scheduled launch would be the first-ever relight of a Super Heavy booster.
After launch, the booster is expected to return to earth and crash into a site in the Gulf.
There will also be a number of experiments to improve the data and performance on future boosters, according to SpaceX.
This flight will be different from those in the past, because it will include the first deployment of a payload from Starship.
The ship will deploy eight Starlink simluators. They are expected to be destroyed when they try to reenter the atmoshphere.
A single Raptor engine is expected to be relit while in space, according to SpaceX.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: SpaceX Starship rocket breaks apart
A SpaceX Starship rocket broke apart shortly after launch on a test flight from south Texas on Thursday, January 16, causing airplanes to be diverted away from any potential falling debris. Footage via Storyful from Cailen Rotz shows the rocket's breakup over Turks and Caicos. (WARNING: Video contains profanity)
Elon Musk on "Making Life Multiplanetary"
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: White House Senior Advisor, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends a cabinet meeting held by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on March 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. This is Trump's third cabinet meeting of his s
What's next:
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is expected to discuss the company's plans for humans to land on Mars.
The talk was expected to be streamed Tuesday at noon, but was later postponed until after the Starship launch tonight.
The Source: Information in this article comes from SpaceX, the FAA and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.