Starship has experienced multiple catastrophic test failures in 2025, with at least four explosions and no successful complete flights. The Super Heavy booster returned to a gantry in January and March while the upper stage failed to recover. In May the booster detonated just before splashdown and the upper stage disintegrated in the atmosphere, scattering debris that endangered aircraft. In June the upper stage detonated on the launchpad during fueling. The 10th test flight is scheduled for a Sunday evening liftoff from Starbase, with the booster aiming to return to the Gulf and the upper stage to reach orbit and later splash down.
The last three flights of Starship, a two-stage, 400-foot tall behemoth, ended in fiery disasterwhat Musk has sometimes jokingly called a rapid unplanned disassembly. In January and again in March the launch vehicle's Super Heavy booster stage made it back to a massive, pincer-equipped gantry, but Starship's upper stage didn't. In May the booster exploded just before splashdown, and Starship broke up spectacularly in the atmosphere, raining debris that commercial aircraft had to dodge.
The tally for 2025 thus far is: explosions, four; SpaceX, zero. Today Starship's Super Heavy booster and upper stage are on the launchpad yet again. The 10th test flight is scheduled for liftoff on Sunday, circa 7:30 P.M. EDT, from SpaceX's Starbase launch site in South Texas. If all goes to plan, the booster will use its 33 rocket engines to push the whole shebang to the edge of space, then
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