Starship, the most powerful rocket system ever constructed, is scheduled for another hour-long uncrewed test flight as soon as 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday, with a webcast beginning about 30 minutes earlier. The prototype will follow a similar flight plan to the last three missions and aim to complete test objectives left untried during those flights, all of which ended prematurely. SpaceX debuted the current generation of Starship vehicles in January after a clean run of scaled-down tests in 2024. Since January the vehicle has twice exploded over populated islands east of Florida, produced debris in Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas, spun out of control on a May flight, and experienced an abrupt June explosion at a South Texas engine test stand. Governments and experts have raised safety, legal, and reputational concerns.
SpaceX debuted the current generation of Starship vehicles in January, following a clean run of test missions with a slightly scaled-down version of the rocket in 2024. But since that debut, the vehicle has twice exploded over populated islands east of Florida, creating debris that hit roadways in Turks and Caicos and washed up onto the shores of Bahamian islands. The spacecraft also spun out of control as it headed toward its landing site in the Indian Ocean on its last test flight in May.
These setbacks roused long-standing SpaceX critics and attracted new ones, including the Mexican government, which has threatened legal action against the company over reported debris on and around its shores. The UK governmentalso said in a statement Thursday that it's been "working closely with US Government partners to protect the safety" of its overseas territories, including Turks and Caicos.
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