SpaceX's Third Test Flight of Lunar and Mars Exploration Spacecraft Fails Again

48-Minute Half-Earth Flight... Disassembly During Descent

American private space company SpaceX's large spacecraft 'Starship,' developed with the goal of exploring the Moon and Mars, failed its third Earth orbit test flight. Although it successfully reached orbit, it disintegrated during descent.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

SpaceX launched Starship at 8:25 a.m. (Central Time) from the Starbase space launch facility on the southern Texas coast in Boca Chica.

Starship increased its altitude and speed, flying about half the Earth's circumference for approximately 48 minutes. It reached a maximum speed exceeding 26,000 km/h and an altitude of 234 km, surpassing the 200 km altitude commonly referred to as low Earth orbit.

However, Starship lost connection with its satellite internet service Starlink during reentry and descent through the atmosphere. Data flow from Starship itself was also cut off. According to the plan, Starship was supposed to complete its orbital flight and land in the Indian Ocean about 65 minutes after launch.

SpaceX stated, "The simultaneous loss of both signals means the spacecraft has been lost."

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) after the Starship test flight, saying, "Starship will take humanity to Mars," and "Thanks to the world's most powerful rocket, humanity will live on multiple planets."

Foreign media evaluated that although this test flight was not completely successful, it marked a significant milestone in the development process of Starship.

Starship is a spacecraft that CEO Musk has been developing for years since founding SpaceX with the goal of sending people and cargo to the Moon and Mars. Previously, SpaceX attempted two Earth orbit test flights of Starship in April and November last year, both of which ended in failure. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to investigate and oversee the third test flight failure.