SpaceX Starship Spins Out of Control Mid-Flight, Raising Doubts About Mars Timeline

In yet another dramatic setback for Elon Musk’s Mars ambitions, SpaceX’s Starship rocket lost control during its ninth test flight on Tuesday, cutting short a highly anticipated mission that was meant to showcase key progress in the company’s deep-space capabilities.

Launching from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, the 400-foot-tall Starship Super Heavy system successfully lifted off and soared into suborbital space. However, roughly 30 minutes into the flight, the upper-stage Starship vehicle began spinning uncontrollably, ultimately failing to complete several critical test objectives. SpaceX also lost contact with the booster rocket during its descent, which plunged into the sea rather than completing a controlled splashdown.

A Mission That Promised More

The mission was the ninth full-scale test of Starship and the first to use a reused Super Heavy booster, a milestone in the company’s goal to create a fully reusable rocket capable of delivering satellites, lunar cargo, and even astronauts to Mars.

Initially, the flight appeared to improve over previous tests, which had exploded early during ascent. But problems quickly mounted. SpaceX had hoped to deploy eight mock Starlink satellites using Starship’s candy-dispenser-style deployment system, but that mechanism failed to function.

“Not looking great with a lot of our on-orbit objectives for today,” SpaceX broadcaster Dan Huot admitted during the company’s livestream.

 Technical Failures

Elon Musk later confirmed via X (formerly Twitter) that a leak in Starship’s primary fuel tank caused the loss of control. Despite the failure, Musk emphasised the value of the flight data, promising faster turnaround between launches—about every 3 to 4 weeks going forward.

Musk had been scheduled to deliver a post-launch speech on “The Road to Making Life Multiplanetary,” but after the failed flight, he was a no-show, leaving followers and media waiting for an explanation that never came.

As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test.

With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s…

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 28, 2025

Fiery Descent Over Africa

Starship’s uncontrolled descent created a fiery trail through the sky over southern Africa, highlighting the dangers of SpaceX’s aggressive test-to-failure approach. Though risky, this strategy has been key to the company’s rapid innovation cycle, one that often courts controversy due to environmental and safety concerns.

The Federal Aviation Administration had only recently cleared this test, following a two-month grounding after previous failures. With Tuesday’s setback, regulatory scrutiny and public scepticism are likely to intensify.

NASA and the Moon… Still Waiting

Despite Elon Musk’s Mars-first rhetoric, NASA is counting on Starship to land astronauts on the Moon in 2027. However, repeated technical failures threaten to delay the U.S. space agency’s timeline. Meanwhile, SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket continues to handle the bulk of commercial satellite launches.

As SpaceX regroups, the question lingers: Will Starship ever reach Mars, or is Elon Musk’s interplanetary vision still just science fiction?