SpaceX’s gigantic Starship rocket explodes minutes into latest test flight
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To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. SpaceX’s Starship rocket suffered another ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ just minutes into its latest test flight.
![[Watch Starship's seventh flight test ? http://spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-7 SpaceX Elon Musk]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236228811-db95.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Elon Musk’s company said the 400ft rocket’s six engines appeared to shut down one-by-one during lift-off, with contact lost eight-and-a-half minutes into the flight. The spacecraft — a new and upgraded model making its debut — was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights.
![[Just saw the most insane #spacedebris #meteorshower right now in Turks and Caicos ? @elonmusk ? what is it??]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236230523-e783.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
But video footage shows orange balls of light streaking across the sky over the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, leaving trails of smoke behind as it broke apart. ‘We did lose all communications with the ship – that is essentially telling us we had an anomaly with the upper stage,’ SpaceX Communications Manager Dan Huot said, confirming minutes later that the ship was lost.
![[Watch Starship's seventh flight test ? http://spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-7 SpaceX Elon Musk]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236228573-8391.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Airlines were forced to divert flights scheduled over the Gulf of Mexico to avoid falling debris. SpaceX CEO Musk posted a video on X showing the debris field and said: ‘Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!’. The failure came a day after Blue Origin, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company, successfully launched its giant New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time.
