SpaceX’s ambitious Starship program faced another setback on May 27, 2025, as its ninth test flight (Flight 9) ended in failure, with both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage lost during the mission. Launched from Starbase in South Texas, the world’s largest rocket achieved initial success but succumbed to critical issues, marking the third consecutive upper stage failure.
What Went Wrong with Starship Flight 9?
The Starship, comprising Ship 35 and the reused Booster 14-2, lifted off at 6:36 p.m. CDT (23:36 UTC) from SpaceX’s Starbase facility. The mission, the first to reuse a Super Heavy booster, aimed to test payload deployment and reentry capabilities critical for NASA’s Artemis program and Elon Musk’s Mars vision. However, multiple failures derailed the flight:
Booster Explosion: The Super Heavy booster (B14-2), previously flown on Flight 7, performed a successful boost-back burn but exploded during its landing burn over the Gulf of Mexico, just six minutes into the flight. SpaceX commentators reported that only 13 of 15 Raptor engines reignited, contributing to the “rapid unscheduled disassembly” under a deliberately aggressive descent trajectory.
Upper Stage Failure: The Starship upper stage (Ship 35) reached its target suborbital trajectory but failed to deploy eight mock Starlink satellites due to a payload door malfunction. A propellant leak then caused the spacecraft to lose attitude control, spin uncontrollably, and disintegrate during reentry over the Indian Ocean, approximately 30 minutes after launch.
Missed Objectives: Key tests, including an in-space Raptor engine relight and heat shield performance under 1,400°C reentry conditions, were abandoned due to the loss of control. Elon Musk had emphasized the reentry phase as critical for validating Starship’s reusability.
SpaceX’s Response and Investigation
SpaceX acknowledged the failure, stating, “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability.” The company is now reviewing data to pinpoint the root causes, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requiring a mishap investigation. The FAA, which cleared Flight 9 after reviewing the Flight 8 failure, expanded the aircraft hazard zone to 1,600 nautical miles to mitigate risks from potential debris, following incidents where Flights 7 and 8 scattered debris over the Caribbean. No injuries or property damage were reported from Flight 9.
Elon Musk noted on X that the upper stage reached its scheduled engine cutoff, marking progress over previous flights, with “no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent.” However, the inability to conduct planned tests underscores ongoing challenges with the Block 2 Starship design, introduced in January 2025, which has now failed in three consecutive missions.
Starship, standing 400 feet tall and powered by 33 Raptor engines, is designed to be fully reusable, aiming to reduce launch costs and enable missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA has invested $4 billion in Starship for Artemis lunar landings, planned for 2027, while Musk envisions uncrewed Mars missions as early as 2026. The repeated upper stage failures, attributed to issues like propellant leaks and engine malfunctions, highlight design flaws that could delay these goals. Posts on X reflect mixed sentiment, with some users praising SpaceX’s iterative approach and others criticizing the recurring setbacks.
The FAA’s investigation could delay future launches, with SpaceX targeting up to 25 Starship flights in 2025. The company plans to attempt a ship catch in the next six months and develop in-space refueling for lunar missions. Despite the failure, SpaceX’s reuse of the Super Heavy booster was a milestone, though the explosion underscores the risks of pushing hardware to its limits.
