By MARCIA DUNN
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX Starship launches are on hold pending an investigation into last week’s test flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that the hourlong spaceflight resulted in a mishap based on the performance of the mega rocket’s first-stage booster.
Minutes after Starship blasted off from Texas on Friday, the booster separated as normal but engines conked out as it made its way back to Earth. Instead of a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the booster came in hard. There were no reports of injury or property damage, according to the FAA, which will oversee the company’s investigation.
The spacecraft continued around the world, releasing 20 mock satellites before ending the mission as planned with a fiery splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket is SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s biggest and most powerful Starship yet, designed to carry crews to Mars. NASA is looking for it to land astronauts on the moon as soon as 2028 and help build a lunar base.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Related Posts:
- No FAA ‘mishap’ declaration yet on SpaceX Starship booster anomaly News SpaceX’s first Starship mission of 2026 was mostly successful Friday, but the Super Heavy booster didn’t perform as expected, instead crashing into Gulf waters off the coast of Texas. Shortly after the upper stage separated from the booster, its 33 Raptor engines cut out and no controlled landing could be…
- Jet2 flight makes emergency landing after pilot has ‘heart attack’ mid-air News The Jet 2 flight was 30,000 ft in the air (Picture: Shutterstock / Markus Mainka) A plane carrying British holidaymakers from Tenerife to Birmingham had to make an emergency landing after the pilot suffered a suspected heart attack mid-flight. The Jet2 Flight was 30,000 ft in the air when the…
- Minneapolis police chief resigns after allegations he interfered with misconduct investigation focused on him News Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara resigned Tuesday after the city alleged he interfered with an investigation into whether he had sexually intimate relationships with city employees. Mayor Jacob Frey gave the chief a written reprimand, saying that his conduct “as substantiated by a neutral investigation, constitutes serious misconduct.” Frey announced…
- Boy, 13, with Tourette’s blocked from BA flight for shouting ‘bomb’ at gate News The family were turned away at the gate at Gatwick Airport (Picture: Shutterstock / Yau Ming Low) A 13-year-old boy with Tourette syndrome was banned from boarding a plane and removed from Gatwick Airport by armed police after he shouted ‘bomb’. British Airways (BA) refused to let Mason and his…
- Cornyn tries to hold on to Texas Senate seat in runoff with Paxton, the latest test of Trump’s power News By THOMAS BEAUMONT and JESSE BEDAYN PLANO, Texas (AP) — Texans are choosing a Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s runoff election, bringing to a close the extended, bitter and expensive primary where President Donald Trump weighed in late to tip the race in another effort to rid the…
(Visited 4 times, 1 visits today)