SpaceX launched its second Starship rocket flight on Saturday, a mission the company called "successful" even after ground control unexpectedly lost contact with the vessel before it reached its destination.
“An incredibly successful day, even though we did have a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ both of the Super Heavy booster and the ship,” SpaceX quality engineering manager Kate Tice said on a webcast of the launch, per CNBC.
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The Starship rocket launched a few minutes after 8:00 a.m. Eastern from the Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas. Approximately 12 minutes after liftoff, SpaceX principal integration engineer John Insprucker announced that he thought they "may have lost the second stage" and that automated detonation likely occurred.
Flight termination systems are standard safety features in rockets, destroying the vehicle if a problem arises. It was not a manned flight, and no one was injured in the explosion.
Insprucker later said that all the data from the second stage of the launch had been lost. "[W]hat we do believe right now is that the Automated Flight Termination System on the second stage appears to have triggered very late in the burn," he added.
If the flight had been successful to completion, the Starship would have made a partial trip around the Earth before crash landing into the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii. SpaceX intended to be able to fully use both the Super Heavy rocket booster and the Starship spacecraft after recovery.
Saturday's mission overall was more successful than the first Starship launch in April, during which six of the 33 engines on the Super Heavy booster failed. At that time, the whole rocket fell before ground control ordered the apparatus to self-destruct.
Congrats to the teams who made progress on today’s flight test.
— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) November 18, 2023
Spaceflight is a bold adventure demanding a can-do spirit and daring innovation. Today’s test is an opportunity to learn—then fly again.
Together @NASA and @SpaceX will return humanity to the Moon, Mars & beyond. https://t.co/QGjwr45KM1
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX for the "progress [made] on today's flight test."
"Spaceflight is a bold adventure demanding a can-do spirit and daring innovation," said Bill Nelson on X, formerly Twitter. "Today's test is an opportunity to learn — then fly again."
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Nelson added that together NASA and SpaceX would "return humanity to the Moon, Mars, and beyond."
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also congratulated the team on X shortly after the detonation.