Elon Musk’s SpaceX yesterday (May 27) launched its ninth integrated flight test (IFT-9) of the Mars-colonizing Starship rocket system from Starbase, Texas. While the mission ultimately ended in failure, it marked meaningful progress in reusability and data collection—two pillars of SpaceX’s development strategy.
The test featured the first reuse of SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster, the powerful first stage of Starship, which previously flew in January. The same booster was launched again last night and successfully separated from the upper-stage Starship vehicle.
Instead of aiming for a standard splashdown, SpaceX deliberately programmed the booster’s descent to be more extreme, pushing the hardware to its limits. The goal: to gather detailed data on how the system performs under punishing conditions. But during its attempt to reignite for a controlled landing, the booster suffered a catastrophic failure and broke apart before reaching the Gulf of Mexico (or Gulf of America).
The upper-stage Starship continued its climb, achieving main engine cutoff and holding a stable trajectory longer than in past tests. However, the mission faltered when a key payload door failed to open, preventing the release of mock Starlink satellites. That payload deployment system—meant to mimic a Pez dispenser—was a major element under review.
Soon after, a leak caused the vehicle to lose pressure in its main fuel tanks, triggering a destabilizing spin that made engine relight and reentry control impossible. The starship disintegrated during atmospheric reentry, in what SpaceX called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” during its live stream.
Still, engineers noted one quiet success: the heat shield remained intact through ascent, with no major tile loss—a milestone for future survivability.
“Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lots of good data to review,” Elon Musk posted on X. He also hinted that future launches could occur monthly, depending on how quickly issues are addressed.
Monday’s launch followed a lengthy FAA review and several hardware upgrades, prompted by two upper-stage failures earlier this year. Starship remains at the core of Musk’s ambitions for Mars colonization and interplanetary living. SpaceX currently holds several multibillion-dollar NASA contracts to build human landing systems on the Moon under the Artemis program.
