SpaceX debacle: Starship breaks up over the Indian Ocean! What now?

SpaceX debacle: Starship breaks up over the Indian Ocean! What now?

SpaceX conducted another test flight of its most powerful rocket, Starship, from Starbase in Texas on May 27, 2025. The 120-meter-tall behemoth, considered the world's most powerful rocket, was scheduled to go through a series of critical phases to collect valuable data for future mission plans. However, the test flight took a tragic turn when the rocket's upper stage began to tumble uncontrollably during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Radio contact with the ground station was lost and the Starship broke up over the Indian Ocean during re-entry. According to Vienna.at, this incident is considered another failure in a series of setbacks in space travel.

Elon Musk said on social media that we learn from every flight, even the failures. SpaceX takes an iterative approach of building, testing, failing and improving quickly. The priority is to evaluate the data to make adjustments to the design before carrying out the next test flights. Rentals between tests typically take several months, and a tenth test flight is not planned until fall 2025 at the earliest.

Results from previous test flights

The current incident is not the first to challenge SpaceX. Back in March 2025, test flight number 8 ended in an explosion triggered by a “lightning” in one of the Raptor’s central engines. This energetic event resulted in the spacecraft automatically terminating its flight. During this test, launched with the aim of carrying four dummy payloads and conducting a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean, communications were lost approximately two minutes after the incident. Space.com reports that a hardware malfunction in one of the Raptor engines was the primary cause of the loss.

After the investigations, the necessary adjustments are already in progress. SpaceX plans to add additional insulation to prevent overheating and advance the overall reduction of weaknesses in the upper stage through tighter bolts and improved plumbing. These issues have been examined in over 100 long-term test firings of the Raptor engines, and the FAA has determined that SpaceX has adequately addressed the causes of the incident and is ready for the next flight.

Future Mars and Moon missions

However, the current setbacks have not dampened the ambitious future plans of SpaceX and Elon Musk. According to Tagesschau, SpaceX is planning five unmanned missions to Mars by 2026 to test the reliability of the landings. Musk has indicated that if the unmanned flights are successful, the first manned flights to Mars could take place within the next four years. However, the schedule for the manned missions could be postponed by two years if difficulties arise.

NASA also has high expectations for the Starship program, as it plays a critical role in future lunar missions as part of the Artemis program. The planned manned lunar orbit has already been postponed from November 2024 to September 2025, while the first manned lunar landing is scheduled for September 2026. NASA estimates that a manned landing mission on Mars cannot realistically be implemented until 2040.