SpaceX is poised to launch the ninth test flight of its Starship megarocket

CNN

27-05-2025

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Title: SpaceX says it knows what went wrong with the last Starship flight
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The last two Starship test flights ended with explosive failures near islands just east of Florida.
An investigation into the most recent mishap in March is ongoing.
But SpaceX says it knows what went wrong.
The Super Heavy booster, which provides the initial burst of power at liftoff, and the upper 171-foot (52-meter) Starship spacecraft took off with no obvious issues.
After the Super Heavy burned through most of its fuel, it separated from the Starship and landed successfully in the arms of SpaceX's 'Mechazilla' launch tower.
But a few engines flamed out on the way home. SpaceX said the 'most probable cause' was an ignition issue caused by abnormal thermal conditions, the company said in a May 22 statement.
Separately — and more significantly — an engine of the upper Starship spacecraft, often referred to as just the 'ship,' exploded just minutes after separating from Super Heavy. Ground controllers lost contact with the vehicle, likely triggering the vehicle's automatic, emergency self-destruct feature.
The likely cause of the mishap, according to SpaceX, was 'a hardware failure' in one of the ship's six engines. That issue likely led to 'inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition' — setting off an explosion in that engine.
The March failure occurred at a similar point in Starship's flight path to that of the January mishap. That's when a fire broke out in the vehicle's 'attic' section that led to the vehicle to explode over Turks and Caicos.
But SpaceX said the issues affecting the March and January test flights were different: January's issues centered on 'harmonic response' — or harsh vibrations — and 'flammability.' Those problems were mitigated during the March test flight, according to SpaceX.
The fixes implemented before today's flight, however, included putting 'additional preload on key joints.' That basically means tightening up some screws.
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Title: An investigation into Starship's March failure is ongoing
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Before each Starship test flight, SpaceX needs explicit approval from federal regulators because of the risky nature of these missions.
And the Federal Aviation Administration gave the green light for this launch despite the fact that an investigation into what went wrong during Starship's explosive failure during Flight 8 in March remains open.
The FAA said it gave SpaceX the go-ahead after determining that the company had met 'all of the rigorous safety, environmental and other licensing requirements.'
It's not the first time the FAA has allowed SpaceX to launch another Starship flight with an open investigation on the books. A probe into what went wrong during Flight 7 in January, which rained debris over Turks and Caicos that even struck a car on one of the islands, was ongoing when SpaceX launched Flight 8.
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Title: Elon Musk is set to give a Starship update post-launch
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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had been slated to deliver a speech to employees titled, 'The road to making life multiplanetary' around 1 p.m. ET.
But Musk abruptly changed those plans, opting to give the speech after tonight's test flight. The event will be livestreamed on Musk's social media platform, X.
This talk is postponed until after the Starship Flight 9 launch tonight https://t.co/gCBQi8M4nA
Musk has given showy updates about Starship and his long-term vision for the rocket — carrying convoys of humans to establish a settlement on Mars — every few years since 2016.
During such speeches, Musk tends to tick through some of the same talking points, emphasizing his view that humans need to live on other worlds in order to ensure survival of the species if a catastrophic event makes our planet unlivable.
'There's always some chance that something could go wrong on Earth. The dinosaurs are not around anymore,' Musk said during one such speech in 2022.
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Title: Here's what to expect during today's flight
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After two very public and explosive failures, SpaceX is once again ready to send one of its Starship vehicles on a test flight.
Success is not guaranteed this time, either.
But the company is hoping to take some significant steps forward. Engineers have made changes to address loose hardware, propellant leaks and other issues that plagued the most recent test flights in January and March.
And for the first time ever, SpaceX is reusing a Super Heavy rocket booster, the bottommost portion of the Starship system, after successfully recovering the 232-foot-tall (71-meter) vehicle during the January test flight.
The hope today is that Starship, the spacecraft that rides atop Super Heavy, makes it a bit further into flight after exploding about 10 minutes into its last two missions.
Here's a quick look at what's ahead: