Elon Musk's SpaceX lost its massive 400-foot-tall Starship in space during its seventh test flight after launching the rocket from Texas on Thursday. Stunning footage captured the moment glowing debris rained down from the sky just after the successful launch of the gigantic spacecraft from Boca Chica in southern Texas.
The engines of the upgraded spacecraft reportedly failed during its ascent, and SpaceX reported losing communication with the uncrewed vehicle. Despite the loss of the spacecraft, the launch did include a significant achievement. Before the mishap, SpaceX successfully showcased its massive mechanical arms, nicknamed "chopsticks," catching the rocket booster at the launch pad for only the second time in history.
Raining Debris

The spacecraft was supposed to fly over the Gulf of Mexico from Texas in a near loop, similar to earlier test missions. For this flight, SpaceX had loaded the rocket with 10 dummy satellites to practice deploying them.
This marked the first test flight for the newly upgraded spacecraft.
Although the rocket's booster performed perfectly—successfully returning to the launch pad and being caught by two massive mechanical arms—the spacecraft itself disappeared.
The excitement of the successful catch quickly shifted to disappointment, not just for the company but also for the crowds gathered at the southern tip of Texas.
The company's livestream host confirmed the worst: "At this point in time, we can confirm we did lose the ship.
"It looks like we lost contact a little under eight and a half minutes into the flight."
SpaceX also confirmed the tragedy and wrote, "Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn. Teams will continue to review data from today's flight test to better understand root cause."
Up in Flames

As the rocket broke apart in the sky, glowing fragments rained down, prompting nearby air traffic to alter its routes. Planes were diverted away from the area as debris streaked through the atmosphere.
The final data received from Starship showed that the rocket had reached an altitude of 90 miles and a speed of 13,245 mph before communication was lost.
SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot stated, " It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about ship."
He added that analyzing the data to identify the cause of the failure would take time.
Elon Musk's aerospace company had envisioned this test flight as a major step toward its goal of creating a fully reusable spacecraft capable of transporting humans to Mars.
He plans to launch real Starlinks aboard Starships before progressing to other satellites and, eventually, human crews. Ahead of the launch, the tech mogul tweeted: "Each Starship launch is more step closer to Mars."
The Starship prototype had undergone significant modifications since its last test flight in November 2023. SpaceX had also made improvements to the booster "catch" tower, which had been damaged during the previous test.