SpaceX's Starship flight test fails again, ending in a fiery mid-air explosion over Florida-Bahamas

SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight ended in partial failure on Thursday. The rocket lifted off successfully, but its upper stage exploded mid-air. This marks the second consecutive time the upper stage has failed, despite improvements.

The Starship mega-rocket launched from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas at 5:30 p.m. (2330 GMT). The booster stage was successfully caught by the launch tower’s "chopstick" arms. However, the upper stage lost control before the live feed cut out.

SpaceX official Dan Huot confirmed the failure, saying, “We did lose contact with the ship. Unfortunately, this happened last time, too.” A similar incident occurred during the January 16 test, which scattered debris over the Caribbean.

SpaceX Responds to Setback
Following the explosion, SpaceX released a statement acknowledging the issue. “We will review the data to understand the root cause. Success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will provide lessons to improve Starship’s reliability,” the company said.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had permitted the launch before completing its review of the January failure. That test ended with debris falling over the Turks and Caicos Islands, prompting cleanup efforts.