🚨SpaceX’s Starship test flight ends in failure after spacecraft is destroyed

 Rocket’s six engines appeared to shut down one after another after nearly nine minutes, while booster returned

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight Thursday, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad.

Elon Musk’s company said the spacecraft’s six engines appeared to shut down one by one, with contact lost just 8min 30sec into the flight.

“We did lose all communications with the ship – that is essentially telling us we had an anomaly with the upper stage,” SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot said, confirming minutes later that the ship was lost.

The spacecraft was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights. SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them. It was the first flight of this new and upgraded spacecraft.

The SpaceX mishap caused widespread disruptions to air traffic. At Miami international airport, some flights were grounded, according to a Reuters witness. Dozens of commercial flights diverted to other airports or altered course to avoid potential debris, based on flight records from tracking website FlightRadar24.

A minute earlier, SpaceX used the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms to catch the returning booster. The descending booster hovered over the launch pad before being gripped by the pair of arms dubbed chopsticks.

The thrill of the catch quickly turned into disappointment for not only the company, but the crowds gathered along the southern tip of Texas.

SpaceX CEO Musk posted a video on Twitter/X showing the debris field and said: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”

“It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about ship,” said Huot, adding it would take time to analyze the data and figure out what happened.

The last data received from the spacecraft indicated an altitude of 90 miles (146 km) and a velocity of 13,245mph (21,317km/h).

Musk said the preliminary indication is that “we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity.” He said there was nothing to suggest delaying the next launch.

The 400-ft (123-meter) rocket had thundered away in late afternoon from Boca Chica near the Mexican border. The late hour ensured a daylight entry halfway around the world in the Indian Ocean. But the shiny retro-looking spacecraft never got nearly that far.

SpaceX had beefed up the catch tower after November’s launch ended up damaging sensors on the robotic arms, forcing the team to forgo a capture attempt. That booster was steered into the gulf instead.

The company also upgraded the spacecraft for the latest demo. The test satellites were the same size as SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites and, like the spacecraft, were meant to be destroyed upon entry.

Musk plans to launch actual Starlinks on Starships before moving on to other satellites and, eventually, crews.

It was the seventh test flight for the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket. Nasa has reserved a pair of Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. Musk’s goal is Mars.

Hours before in Florida, another billionaire’s rocket company – Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin – launched the newest supersized rocket, New Glenn. The rocket reached orbit on its first flight, successfully placing an experimental satellite thousands of miles above Earth. But the first-stage booster was destroyed, missing its targeted landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic.