SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket lifted off shortly after 8 a.m. ET from the company’s Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
A few minutes after launch and a planned separation from the “hot stage,” the Super Heavy booster exploded instead of continuing its planned descent and water landing, but Starship itself continued into space. Minutes later, the SpaceX team said they had not received any signals from the booster and that they may have lost the ship.
At that point in its flight, the ship was probably no longer within range of ground stations, but it appears that the ship’s flight termination system was activated shortly after its Raptor engines shut down.
This marks the second launch attempt for the 397-foot-tall rocket, which uses a two-stage system that separates within minutes of launch, with the booster intended to descend again.
Although Starship was originally scheduled to launch on November 17, SpaceX delayed the flight until replace a grille flap actuatora component that helps guide the Super Heavy booster to its destination.
This launch test made much more progress than the previous attempt. Starship’s first test flight in April ended in failure. The rocket burst into flames shortly after launch and fired detonators to self-destruct. SpaceX attributed the failure to propellant leaking from the Super Heavy booster, stating that it “severed the connection to the vehicle’s main flight computer.” The company was unable to conduct another launch until it addressed the Federal Aviation Administration’s 63 corrective actions.
