Elon Musk’s Starship rocket EXPLODES minutes after takeoff as dramatic video shows glowing debris raining down on Earth
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ELON Musk's Starship rocket has exploded just minutes into its seventh test flight in a dramatic mid-air failure. Incredible footage shows glowing debris across the sky after the 400ft behemoth launched from Boca Chica, southern Texas, on Thursday. 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 Starship launch.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-starship-flight-7-test-964272001.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them. It was the first flight of this new and upgraded spacecraft. But while the rocket's booster performed flawlessly - making a successful return and being caught between two giant mechanical arms at the launchpad - the rocket itself vanished.
![[Starship launch during flight test.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-jeff-bezoss-blue-origin-964272321.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
The thrill of the catch quickly turned into disappointment for not only the company, but the crowds gathered along the southern tip of Texas. Crews lost contact with the Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket in the world. The company's livestream host confirmed the worst: “At this point in time, we can confirm we did lose the ship.
![[Starship rocket launching.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/spacexs-mega-rocket-starship-makes-964274686.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"It looks like we lost contact a little under eight and a half minutes into the flight.”. SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot said: "It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about ship.". He added that it would take time to analyze the data and determine what went wrong.
![[Starship rocket launching.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/spacexs-mega-rocket-starship-launches-964274628.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The last data received from Starship indicated the rocket had reached an altitude of 90 miles, with a velocity of 13,245 mph, before contact was lost. As the rocket disintegrated in the sky, glowing debris rained down, forcing nearby air traffic to reroute.
