**Elon Musk’s SpaceX has suffered its second rocket failure this year after one of its spacecraft exploded just minutes after taking off from a Texas launchpad.**
The firm was using last night’s Starship launch to place mock satellites in orbit as part of longer-term plans to make long-haul trips to Mars. The Starship rocket is SpaceX’s largest spacecraft and has been developed with the intention of lowering launch costs through economies of scale.
The rocket lifted off around 18.00 ET (23.00 GMT) last night, and while its super heavy first stage returned to the launchpad as expected, visualisations showed the upper stage spinning in space before the firm lost contact with it altogether. Final contact with Starship came approximately nine minutes and 30 seconds after lift-off.
While no injuries were reported, some people on Caribbean islands described fiery debris falling back to Earth.
SpaceX said: “Any surviving debris would have fallen within the pre-planned Debris Response Area. There are no toxic materials present in the debris and no significant impacts expected to occur to marine species or water quality.”
The firm said it flew the spacecraft within a “designated launch corridor” that was designed to protect members of the public.
The latest mishap comes less than two months after Starship’s last crash. On 16 January, the spacecraft lifted off from a Texas launchpad and all 33 of its Raptor engines started up successfully. But after several minutes of flight time, the upper stage dramatically broke up and disintegrated over Caribbean airspace, forcing several planned flights to alter their course to avoid falling debris.
While the debris resulting from the explosion also fell within the pre-planned area, residents of nearby islands complained they had to deal with a considerable amount of debris that had landed near homes and businesses.
Many locals argued that SpaceX should have been liable to clean up the debris. But in a meeting between the firm and representatives from the island, it said only that residents should wear gloves while picking up the material.