SpaceX loses contact with Starship rocket on re-entry in Earth’s atmosphere
SpaceX lost contact with its Starship rocket on reentry over the Indian Ocean on Thursday just as the company named the third test flight a success.
The mega rocket, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, blasted off from Texas near the Mexican border, before vanishing.
The spacecraft continued eastward for a planned hour-long flight and splashdown in the Indian Ocean, with the rocket spending about 45 minutes in space before its command central lost contact.
“The team has made the call that the ship has been lost, so no splashdown today,” SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot said during the live broadcast. “It’s incredible to see how much further we got this time around.”
Despite losing track of the Starship rocket, CEO Elon Musk congratulated his team, writing on X, “SpaceX has come a long way.”
Musk touted his rocket, which weighs about 5,000 tons, as the “largest flying object ever made.”
“As the most powerful launch system ever developed, Starship will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights,” the company said in a statement about the rocket. “Starship will also enable satellite delivery, the development of a Moon base, and point-to-point transport here on Earth.”
Thursday’s test launch had no people or satellite aboard, and outperformed the previous tests, which both ended in explosions just minutes after liftoff.
During the first test flight last April, the rocket was forced to self-destruct when its boosters failed to separate.
The latest test, however, saw a smooth take off, with its booster successfully separating and splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico.
A flawless Starship flight would be welcomed by NASA, with the spacecraft set to play a key role in the Artemis III mission that would see America return to the moon in more than five decades.
“Congrats to @SpaceX on a successful test flight! Starship has soared into the heavens,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote on X. “Together, we are making great strides through Artemis to return humanity to the Moon—then look onward to Mars.”
The SpaceX rocket was selected by NASA to carry its astronauts for the 2026 mission.
With Post wires
