View of Space X’s Starship on the launch pad for its seventh test flight, in Boca Chica, Texas, U.S.
Maxar Technologies | Via Reuters
SpaceX launched the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost communication with the upper stage of the rocket that continues on into space.
The company’s webcast showed data stopped transmitting from Starship about nine minutes into the launch.
“We can confirm that we did lose the ship,” SpaceX senior manager of quality systems engineering Kate Tice said.
SpaceX said in a post on X that the ship broke up during its ascent burn and that it would “continue to review data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause.”
After the rocket lost communication, social media users posted photos and videos of what appeared to be fireballs in the sky near the Caribbean islands. Starship’s launch trajectory takes it due east from Texas, which means the fireballs are likely…
