Space travel: Starship test flight failed - attempt to catch failed

Elon Musk wants to explore Mars with the largest rocket system ever built in space history. Now the Starship has set off on another test flight - and complications arise.

Catching the booster with gripper arms did not work as planned. Photo: Eric Gay/AP/dpa

Starbase. During another test flight of its giant Starship rocket, the US space company SpaceX suffered a setback shortly after launch. Actually, for the first time, both rocket stages were supposed to be picked up again by gripper arms on the launch tower - but complications arose: The lower rocket stage returned to earth shortly after take-off from the Starbase cosmodrome in the southeast of the US state of Texas, but crashed into the sea in a controlled manner and burst into flames.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk's company initially did not provide any information about the possible cause of the failure. In three previous test launches, however, the lower rocket stage - the booster called Super Heavy - had already been intercepted.

At least the Starship should be caught

The upper rocket stage, called Starship, entered Earth orbit shortly after separating from the lower rocket stage and deployed satellites for Musk's Starlink Internet service. The plan is for it to circle the earth around 14 times in around 24 hours and then be picked up again at the launch tower with gripper arms. There has never been an attempt like this before.

The last test flight of the Starship took place in September. The largest rocket system ever built made it into Earth orbit for the first time and then crashed into the Pacific in a controlled ball of flames around three hours later.

Missile system is bigger than the Statue of Liberty

The Starship rocket system is huge, even larger than the Statue of Liberty in New York. It consists of two parts that separate after launch: the approximately 70 meter long booster Super Heavy and the upper stage - also called Starship - which measures around 50 meters. Both parts are designed to be reused after returning to Earth.

The rocket system was tested for the first time in April 2023 - but then it exploded completely after a few minutes. The further tests were met with varying degrees of success.

The US space agency Nasa wants to send astronauts to the moon with the Starship, while SpaceX also aims to reach Mars one day.