SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion

Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down.

The 123-metre (403-foot) rocket blasted off from Texas a little before sunset. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost with the spacecraft as it went into an out-of-control spin.

The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour and could not release the mock satellites into space as planned. The spacecraft reached nearly 150km (90 miles) in altitude before trouble struck. It was not immediately clear where it came down.

“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.

Nasa has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.