A SpaceX Starship prototype failed during a test mission on Thursday, shortly after separating from its booster in space. The accident took place minutes after launching from the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, facilities, and it failed to display a critical satellite deployment demonstration. The event resulted in major obstacles for SpaceX’s ambitious rocket development program.

Commenting on the incident, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on social media to downplay the setback. ’Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!’’ Musk’s remark on the accident indicated the message to keep pushing forward despite the challenges.

Starship’s journey halted

The prototype, which was about 37 stories tall, was a heavily upgraded version of SpaceX’s Starship system. It was successfully launched at 5:38 PM EST (2238 GMT) on Thursday, marking the seventh test mission for the system and the first of 2025. However, after eight minutes of the flight, the mission lost control of it when it got separated from the Super Heavy first-stage booster.

The issue was disclosed during the live broadcast by Dan Huot, SpaceX’s Communications Manager, stating, ‘’We did lose all contacts with the ship, that is fundamentally indicating us we had anomaly with the upper stage.’’ A confirmation was also made later that the upper stage was no longer working.

Starship’s upgraded design

The Starship’s upper stage, designed as a next-generation model is equipped with major upgrades and was two metres taller in comparison to its predecessors. SpaceX has also planned for the upper stage to carry out a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean approximately an hour after the launch.

This failure marks the upper-stage issue for Starship since March of last year when the second stage disintegrated when it was re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Despite this difficulty, the Super Heavy booster performed as expected, making a successful return to its launch pad by using Raptor engines to lower the descent and engage mechanical arms for a smooth landing.

SpaceX will likely address the anomaly by reworking its designs as it continues to do space exploration.

(With inputs from Reuters)