SpaceX Super Heavy Booster Successfully Retained, Upper Ship Experiences Setback

SpaceX has achieved another milestone with its Super Heavy booster, successfully catching it during a test flight on March 6, 2025. However, the upper section of the Starship spacecraft did not share the same fate, undergoing what is dubbed as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly”. This dramatic event was visible from as far as Miami.

In a bid to redeem itself after a previous mission setback in January, SpaceX launched the eighth suborbital test flight of its fully integrated Starship megarocket on Thursday. This colossal rocket consists of the S34 upper stage combined with the B15 Super Heavy booster, and the launch took place at Starbase in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. Despite a promising launch, the upper stage ran into trouble shortly after reaching space as it began to spin erratically, eventually losing contact and breaking apart. Debris rained down back to earth by early evening on Thursday. Nevertheless, the test successfully met one of its major objectives: the Super Heavy booster was captured by the launch tower’s innovative “chopsticks.”

“During the Starship’s ascent, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly which resulted in a loss of contact,” SpaceX reported in a statement. “Our team promptly coordinated with safety officials to execute pre-planned contingency measures. Today’s flight offers valuable insights that will further enhance Starship’s reliability,” SpaceX added, emphasizing that each test yields crucial learning opportunities.

In response to the event, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a statement that SpaceX must conduct a “mishap investigation” to analyze the loss of the Starship. “During the event, the FAA activated a Debris Response Area and temporarily adjusted air traffic outside this zone,” the statement read. “Normal operations have since resumed.”

A mishap investigation is critical for elevating public safety, uncovering the incident’s root cause, and formulating measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future, as outlined by the FAA. The agency will oversee the entire investigation spearheaded by SpaceX and will need to endorse SpaceX’s final report along with any corrective steps deemed necessary.

The mission on Thursday followed a similar suborbital path to previous launches but aimed to achieve objectives unmet in past tests. These included Starship’s debut payload deployment and a series of reentry trials designed to return the upper segment to the launch site for retrieval. The flight intended for the Starship to deploy four Starlink simulators, although it encountered obstacles along the way.