SpaceX starship fails second test flight

Shafaq News/ SpaceX, the aerospace company owned by Elon Musk, failed its second attempt to launch the Starship rocket, losing contact with the vehicle minutes after liftoff.

The 123-meter rocket lifted off from the Starbase facility in Texas, successfully landing its first-stage booster. However, upper-stage engine failures led to a loss of control as the spacecraft headed toward the Indian Ocean.

Flight data showed the vehicle reached 150 kilometers before exploding, failing to deploy four dummy satellites. The exact debris location remains unclear, but witnesses in Florida captured images of burning fragments falling from the sky, raising environmental and safety concerns.

Meanwhile, the Turks and Caicos Islands are still dealing with debris from a previous Starship explosion in January, with reports of wreckage washing ashore and damaging vehicles. No injuries have been reported.

The launch proceeded despite an ongoing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation into the January failure, drawing criticism.

In a statement, SpaceX attributed the explosion to an "energetic event" at the vehicle’s rear, causing multiple Raptor engine failures and a loss of control nine minutes and 30 seconds after launch.