SpaceX launched the third version of its Starship rocket from Starbase in Texas as a test of upgraded hardware and a new launchpad, but the flight hit problems with the booster and one upper stage engine.

After stage separation, the Super Heavy booster failed to reignite for its planned landing burn and fell into the Gulf of Mexico, while Starship lost one of six Raptor engines as it climbed into space.

The upper stage still deployed 20 Starlink satellite simulators and two modified Starlink satellites, and the launch was SpaceX’s first Starship flight since October 2025 after an earlier attempt was delayed by a launch tower issue.

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🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

This test puts NASA’s moon schedule under more strain

Starship is not a routine test vehicle. It includes the NASA-contracted Starship Human Landing System (HLS), a version meant to land the first Artemis-era astronauts on the Moon 1. The booster missed its landing burn, which undercuts a skill needed for lunar missions. Precise touchdowns matter on the Moon, and the vehicle’s 171-foot height already brings a tipping risk 2. NASA’s internal reviews already place the program on a slower track. One risk-informed assessment set a February 2028 baseline at a 70% joint confidence level for the HLS Initial Capability project, about 18 months after NASA’s September 2026 target for Artemis III, the mission meant to return astronauts to the Moon 3. Each partial setback gives more weight to watchdog warnings that the HLS schedule is unrealistic, including one estimate of delays up to 3.4 years based on past aerospace programs 4.

Starship setbacks cloud a trillion-dollar IPO story

The failed booster landing reaches beyond NASA. It cuts into the case for SpaceX’s expected initial public offering (IPO), which could seek a valuation as high as $1.75 trillion 5. That figure depends on Starship flying often at low cost so SpaceX can pursue businesses such as orbital AI data centers, which it says could start deployment as early as 2028 6. Those plans, used to support a valuation far above today’s space market, rely on Starship becoming a dependable reusable system 5. A booster crashing into the Gulf of Mexico puts that investor pitch under more pressure because it raises fresh doubts about the company’s future plans.

Recent SpaceX developments

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