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

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

Vienna, Österreich - SpaceX on May 27, 2025 carried out another test flight of its most powerful rocket, Starship, from the Starbase in Texas. The 120 meter high colossus, which is considered the most powerful rocket in the world, should go through a number of critical phases in order to collect valuable data for future mission plans. However, the test flight took a tragic turn when the upper rocket level began to stagger into the earth's atmosphere uncontrollably during the re -entry into the earth's atmosphere. The radio contact to the floor station was lost, and the starship broke up over the Indian Ocean. According to [vienna.at] (https://www.vienna.at/space-debakel-starship-zerbricht-ueber-den-ozean-Was-meaning, this incident is seen as a further default in a space.

Elon Musk expressed social media that it is learned from every flight, also from the failures. SpaceX follows an iterative approach in which it is quickly built, tested, failed and improved. The priority is in the evaluation of the data to make adjustments to the design before the next test flights are carried out. Rentes between the tests usually take several months, and a tenth test flight is planned in autumn 2025 at the earliest.

results from previous test flights

The current incident is not the first to challenge SpaceX. As early as March 2025, test flight number 8 ended in an explosion, which was triggered by a “lightning” in one of the central raptor engines. This energetic event led to the automatic flight termination of the spaceship. In this test, which was started with the aim of transporting four dummy protection loads and carrying out controlled watering in the Indian Ocean, communication was interrupted about two minutes after the incident. [Space.com] (https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/space-knows-why-tar-star-flight-8-ship- Exploded-to-flash-in-rocket engine) reports in one of the raptor drives that The main cause of the loss was.

According to the investigations, the necessary adjustments are already in progress. SpaceX plans to attach additional insulation to prevent overheating and to advance the general reduction in weaknesses in the upper level by tighter bolts and improve plumbing. These problems were examined in over 100 long-term test fires of the raptor engines, and the FAA has found 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 subdued the ambitious future plans of SpaceX and Elon Musk. According to Tagesschau, SpaceX plans five unmanned missions to test the reliability of the landings by 2026. Musk has indicated that if the unmanned flights were successful, the first manned flights to Mars could take place within the next four years. However, the schedule for the manned missions could be shifted by two years if there are difficulties.

NASA also has high expectations of the Starship program because it plays a crucial role in future moon missions as part of the Artemis program. The planned manned round round was postponed from November 2024 to September 2025, while the first manned moon landing is scheduled to September 2026. NASA estimates that a manned landing mission on Mars can realistically only be implemented in 2040.