SpaceX's ninth test flight of its Starship spacecraft ended in failure shortly after liftoff on May 27. The launch took place at the company's Starbase facility in Texas. The mission aimed to deploy eight Starlink simulator satellites and test the vehicle's reentry system with 100 heat-shield tiles removed.

Initially, the launch was successful, and the spacecraft ascended as planned. However, shortly after reaching space, the spacecraft began spinning uncontrollably due to a fuel system leak. This malfunction rendered the heat-shield test unfeasible.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared his thoughts on X, stating, "Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent." Despite this progress, the booster stage, which is critical for reentry, was lost during its return to the atmosphere.

Additionally, the payload door, which was supposed to release the eight mock satellites, failed to open during the flight. Remaining parts of the spacecraft that do not disintegrate upon reentry are expected to land in the Indian Ocean, according to SpaceX. This incident marks another setback for the Starship program, which has faced challenges in previous tests, including an aborted flight earlier this year in April.

In a statement following the incident, SpaceX acknowledged the failure and emphasized the importance of learning from each test. "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary," the company stated.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been notified of the incident and is expected to conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the failure and assess any potential impact on future launches. The FAA confirmed, "The FAA is aware an anomaly occurred during the SpaceX Starship Flight 9 mission that launched on Tuesday, May 27, from Starbase, Texas, and is actively working with SpaceX on the event. There are no reports of public injury or damage to public property at this time."

SpaceX has not yet announced a timeline for its next test flight but has indicated that the company will continue to refine the Starship system based on the data collected from this mission. "Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable," SpaceX stated on their website. "But by putting hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle."

SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.