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SpaceX lost its Starship rocket and spacecraft in a pair of explosions Saturday but still successfully completed a number of milestones that the company said will help it continue the rapid development of the world’s most powerful rocket.

The second stage of the spacecraft, which is the portion of the rocket designed to carry people and cargo, reached an altitude of about 90 miles, past the point that marks the border with space, before self destructing, SpaceX data showed. During the vehicle’s first test flight in April, it rose only to about 24 miles before tumbling out of control and exploding.

SpaceX engineers were still trying to determine what precisely happened in Saturday’s test flight, which did not carry any people. “What we do believe right now is that the automated flight termination system on second stage appears to have triggered very late in the burn as we were headed downrange out over the Gulf of Mexico,” SpaceX’s John Insprucker said during SpaceX’s broadcast of the launch.

Despite the detonation, which SpaceX calls a rapid unscheduled disassembly, the test flight went further than the first launch in April. A series of problems that plagued that test seemed to have been remedied.

At liftoff shortly after 8 a.m. Eastern from SpaceX’s launch facility in South Texas, all 33 of the rocket’s Raptor engines ignited and continued to fire as it soared over the Gulf of Mexico; during the first flight, three engines failed to ignite and three more went out during the ascent.

The rocket on Saturday passed through the moment when the aerodynamic pressure on the vehicle is at its maximum, which it had also successfully accomplished during the first test, and the second stage separated from the booster, something that failed to happen in April when the rocket started tumbling and the onboard detonation system destroyed it.

On the ground, SpaceX also appeared to have resolved issues at the launch pad that on the first test was all but destroyed by the rocket’s liftoff, scattering debris across a wide area. Preliminary reports indicated that this time the launch pad survived intact.

That sort of progress is what NASA wanted to see. “Congrats to the teams who made progress on today’s flight test,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “Spaceflight is a bold adventure demanding a can-do spirit and daring innovation. Today’s test an opportunity to learn — then fly again.”

The space agency is investing about $4 billion in the development of Starship and plans to use it for the first two landings of astronauts on the moon as part of its Artemis program, which seeks to return humans there for the first time since the last of the Apollo missions, in 1972.

If everything had gone perfectly, the spacecraft would have nearly circled the globe and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. But SpaceX warned ahead of the flight that it is still learning how the massive vehicle operates in flight and that failures would be part of the testing process.

Todd Harrison, a nonresident senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, praised the company’s progress. “While it didn’t go perfectly, this test flight accomplished a lot,” he wrote on X. “All 33 engines performed well on the first stage. It had a successful stage separation. All 6 engines lit on the second stage and burned until near the planned cutoff. Lots of progress. Still more work to do.”

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would work with SpaceX to investigate what happened during the test before issuing a permit for a third test. “A return to flight of the Starship Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety,” the FAA said, adding that no injuries or property damage was reported.

The flight came at a tumultuous time for SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, who was chastised on Friday by the White House for promoting an antisemitic post on X, the social media site he owns. In a statement, White House spokesman Andrew Bates blasted Musk, calling his post an “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate.”

The White House did not issue comment on Saturday.

Nelson has said that when Musk purchased Twitter, he was concerned it would distract Musk from the task of getting Starship on track. But he said he was assured by SpaceX leaders that the company would remain focused on the spacecraft’s development, as well as its other programs for NASA.

It is not clear when SpaceX will try to fly again. Starship was grounded by the FAA for months after the first attempt while it investigated the launch and reviewed the changes SpaceX was making. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also signed off on the flight after reviewing environmental concerns.

SpaceX used that time to introduce a water suppression system at the launch site to dampen the vibrations caused by the rocket’s enormous thrust. It also worked to prevent leaks in the engines that caused some of them to fail during the first test.

On Saturday, SpaceX performed a tricky separation event called “hot-staging,” where the second stage ignited its engines while still attached to the booster. That appeared to go well, though afterward the booster exploded as it fell back toward Earth ― an event that will likely provide new opportunities for engineering revisions.

SpaceX’s Starship rocket successfully lifted off. All 33 of its Raptor engines ignited and continued to fire. That was a significant improvement over the first test flight when three engines failed at liftoff and three more went out during the ascent.

The Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft made it through what’s known as Max Q, the moment when the aerodynamic forces are greatest, and reached space.

The booster and the ship separated successfully, which did not happen during the previous test. But after SpaceX performed a tricky separation event called “hot-staging” where the second stage ignites its engines while still attached to the booster, the booster was lost.

The six engines on the ship’ second stage ignited successfully, SpaceX said. But something caused the vehicle’s onboard flight termination system to destroy the craft.

“What we do believe right now is that the automated flight termination system on second stage appears to have triggered very late in the burn as we were headed downrange out over the Gulf of Mexico,” SpaceX’s John Insprucker said during SpaceX’s broadcast.

The launch site, which was destroyed during the first test, appears to be in much better shape this time, according to preliminary reports.

Speaking on the broadcast, SpaceX commentators said that the company will have learned a lot from the flight and will incorporate the necessary changes ahead of the next attempt.

“An incredibly successful day even though we did have a rapid, unscheduled disassembly of both the Super Heavy booster and the ship,” said Kate Tice, a SpaceX engineer. “We got so much data and that will all help us to improve for our next flight.”

Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, wrote on X, that is was “a very successful 2nd test flight of a complex new vehicle, with huge progress and learning.”

Christian Davenport

The second stage appears to have been lost, SpaceX’s John Insprucker said during the company’s broadcast.

“We have lost the data from the second stage,” he said. “So we think we may have lost the second stage.”

He said that the spacecraft’s automated flight termination system, designed to destroy the vehicle if it veered off course triggered while the spacecraft was flying over the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX has ended their broadcast.

The first and second stages have separated, a significant milestone for the flight. During the first test, the vehicle did not make it this far. 

During liftoff, all 33 Raptor engines ignited successfully. They powered down during separation, and then all six engines of the second stage ignited as well. The spacecraft is on the proper trajectory, though its booster stage did not survive.

Starship has lifted off from its launch pad at SpaceX’s facility in South Texas.

There are a few boats in the area that need to move, but SpaceX is still proceeding with the countdown, SpaceX’s John Insprucker said during the company’s broadcast. The 20-minute launch window opens at 8 a.m. Eastern.

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket

The second launch of Starship, like the first, is a test. How to judge whether the test is a success?

SpaceX has said that even though the first mission ended in a fireball, its engineers learned a lot and, as a result, that test should be considered a success. It allowed SpaceX engineers to make changes that will increase the probability of a problem-free launch in the future.

This is how SpaceX has built all of its rockets and spacecraft and perfected the art of landing rocket boosters so that they can be reused over and over — flying, failing, trying again and again, until they get it right.

Last time, the rocket it made it through what known as Max-Q, the period in flight where the aerodynamic forces are at their greatest. That was a success.

This time, SpaceX hopes to make it further, if not all the way to space, then at least through stage separation, which didn’t happen during the first flight. That, Musk has said, would be a key milestone.

“I think the probability of this next flight working … is much higher than the last one,” Musk said in June. “Maybe it’s like 60 percent. It depends on how well we do at stage separation.”

SpaceX hopes the rocket will launch successfully. But the chance of another explosion is real.

The Federal Aviation Administration, as the agency charged with protecting the public, requires space companies take measures to ensure no one gets hurt in the event of an accident.

If there is a mishap, but no one is injured and no public property is damaged, the FAA will oversee any investigation. If someone is hurt or killed, or if there were significant damage, the probe would fall to the National Transportation Safety Board, which has sought a greater role in rocket mishaps.

The public is kept miles from the launch site. Airline traffic is cleared from the skies. And boats are forced to adhere to a keep-out zone. That’s why even though the first Starship launch attempt failed, blew up the launch site and scattered debris hundreds of yards, no one was injured.

Four minutes till failure: Watch SpaceX’s Starship come apart during the first test flight

Artemis II Crew announcement

NASA wants to use Starship to land astronauts on the moon.

In 2021, the space agency awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to develop the rocket and spacecraft as a lunar lander to be used in the first human landing on the moon since 1972. Since then, it’s awarded SpaceX another contract, this one worth $1.15 billion for a second landing.

Before NASA allows its astronauts on board, SpaceX will have to show that it can safely and reliably launch the rocket, and that will require a lot of testing. It also needs to be able to refuel the rocket in low Earth orbit, which has never been done before and will require SpaceX to launch a fleet of tanker spacecraft.

As a result, NASA has been looking forward to the resumption of flight testing.

“It is essential to us that SpaceX be able to test their rocket,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recently told The Post.

FILES-US-SPACE-SPACEX-STARSHIP

SpaceX has made several changes to launch procedures after the failed April test. One of those is the way the rocket’s stages will separate. On SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, the second stage engine ignites after it has separated from the booster. But on this flight of Starship, Musk said SpaceX is implementing “a late breaking change that’s really quite significant to the way that stage separation works.” The new technique is known as “hot staging.”

In hot staging, the engines of the upper stage will ignite while it is still connected to the Super Heavy booster. The booster will shut down many of its engines but will keep several others still firing. As a result, “you never stop thrusting,” Musk said, which should allow the vehicle to deliver as much as 10 percent more payload mass to orbit.

There is a risk, however: “Obviously that results in kind of blasting the booster, so then you’ve got to protect the top of the boost stage from getting incinerated by the upper stage engines,” Musk said.

The maneuver, coming at about two minutes and 40 seconds into flight, will be a major milestone for the vehicle. If it is successful.

SpaceX commentators on the company’s live stream are stressing that this flight is a test, and that the vehicle may not make it to space.

“I can’t say this enough: today is a flight test,” said Siva Bharadvaj, a SpaceX engineer. “While it’s not happening in a lab or on a test stand, today is absolutely a test. And the goal is to gain invaluable data to continue rapidly improving Starship. So whatever the mission outcome today excitement is guaranteed.”

Kate Tice, another SpaceX engineer, added: “The further we fly, the more data we can collect.”

When rockets take off from Cape Canaveral, there is nothing but ocean for hundreds of miles. Launching from SpaceX’s facility in South Texas, however, is a little trickier. To avoid flying over land, and endangering people on the ground in the event of an explosion, SpaceX needs to thread a needle through the Florida Straits between Florida and Cuba.

If the launch goes well and the Starship spacecraft separates as planned from its booster, the Starship spacecraft will continue its journey around the globe, reaching an altitude of about 146 miles before splashing down off the coast of Hawaii about 90 minutes after launching.

For the most part, the trajectory will take it mostly over water, not land. But if the flight goes as planned, the spacecraft will pass over southern Africa before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

The Super Heavy booster is designed to return to the launchpad for a soft landing, but SpaceX won’t attempt to do that this time. But it will attempt a couple of maneuvers designed to mimic a landing. 

After separating from the Starship spacecraft, it will flip itself, then fire its engines again in what’s known as a “boostback burn” to fly toward land, but it won’t land. Instead, it will fly into the Gulf of Mexico about 20 miles from shore. Shortly before hitting the water, it will relight its engines to simulate a “landing burn.”

SpaceX is loading propellant into the Starship vehicle, filling the massive rocket and spacecraft with liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The team has encountered no major problems, and the weather appears to support a launch attempt as well. “All systems and weather are go for the second integrated flight test of Starship,” the company <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1725834753537188097" target=_blank>wrote on X</a>.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has said engineers have made a number of improvements to the rocket and the ground systems since the April launch attempt. Perhaps the biggest, and most visible, is the addition of a water suppression system.

Shortly before the ignition of the 33 engines on Starship’s first stage, known as the Super Heavy booster, water will begin showering the launchpad. That will help dampen the acoustic blast coming from the engines and, SpaceX hopes, prevent the destruction of the  pad. During the April launch, with no water suppression system, Starship destroyed the pad, sending large chunks of debris shooting into the shoreline.

“Think of it like a gigantic upside-down shower head,” Musk said in June. “It’s going to basically blast water upward while the rocket is over the pad to counteract the massive amount of heat from the booster. The booster is basically like the world’s biggest cutting torch with a massive amount of heat, but also a massive amount of force.”

The addition of the water system, he said, “should leave the base of the pad in much better shape than last time.”

The Federal Aviation Administration’s granting on Wednesday of a license for the test launch was the conclusion of a months-long review following the failed first flight attempt and the damage to the launchpad that it caused.

The FAA reviewed the safety conditions to ensure no people or public property would be harmed. And in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency also reviewed the environmental impacts.

Of concern to the regulatory agencies was whether the launchpad’s newly installed water suppression system, which SpaceX installed after the first test to ease the vibrations from the rocket, would harm the surrounding wetlands. In 2022, the agencies had performed an environmental assessment ahead of the first test flight and wanted to ensure that the addition of the water suppression system wouldn’t change the finding that the launch would not hurt the surrounding environment. Their conclusion: “there are no significant environmental changes, and all pertinent conditions and requirements of the prior approval have been met or will be met in the current action.”

A group of environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the FAA after the April flight, alleging it did not properly assess the environmental impacts. Michael Parr, the president of the American Bird Conservancy, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, said his organization was unhappy about the FAA license for the second launch.

“American Bird Conservancy is deeply concerned about the decision to permit this launch, especially given the environmental disaster for nearby habitats caused by the last failed launch attempt,” he said. “Our<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://abcbirds.org/news/spacex-lawsuit/__;!!M9LbjjnYNg9jBDflsQ!Ed0iXF2s7B-QqilFWcSessA-iPggXivTi2N2-vMuYloBoVJ8RS-TWxAHb7sGxrbLUH6t5D-JyqWe7Dq1kiVAqQKAwQ$" target=_blank> lawsuit </a>is still in process, and we will bring further legal action due to the failure to assess damage from the last launch.”

This is a test flight and part of what SpaceX is trying to learn is not just how the rocket flies, but how it performs on the ground during fueling and preparations for flight.

While the fueling process has begun, all kinds of things can go wrong.

In April, SpaceX’s first test attempt was delayed because a valve stuck while ground crews were loading the extremely cold propellant into the vehicle. The second test flight attempt was also delayed, from Friday, so that crews could replace a mechanical part that helps steer the booster as it falls back through the atmosphere.

Unlike Friday, when there was a two-hour window, Saturday’s attempt has only a 20-minute window. SpaceX has not said why there’s a shortened time period for launch the rocket.

Emmy Award, 2021. Peabody Award, 2010. On teams that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in 2005, 2010 and 2011.

The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos (PublicAffairs, April 2018)

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Colby College, B.A., American Studies

Christian Davenport covers NASA and the space industry for The Washington Post's Financial desk. He joined The Post in 2000 and has served as an editor on the Metro desk and as a reporter covering military affairs. He is the author of "The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos" (PublicAffairs, 2018).

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SpaceX Starship launch live: Follow the rocket’s test flight from Texas

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Starship lost during second test; SpaceX says it likely self-destructed

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