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SpaceX Conducts Ninth Starship Test Flight, Encounters Setback Due to Leak

On Tuesday, SpaceX launched its ninth full test flight of the Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas. The company confirmed that while the vehicle successfully reached space, it lost control during the mission due to a leak that caused a loss of pressure in the main tank. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, disclosed the issue via X, stating that the pressure loss affected the vehicle during the coasting and re-entry phases.

Despite the anomaly, SpaceX noted key achievements in Flight 9. The Starship completed a full-duration ascent burn and reached the scheduled engine cutoff without significant loss of heat shield tiles—an improvement over prior tests. The Super Heavy booster used in this mission had previously flown in the seventh test flight and became the first in the program to re-fly. It successfully performed a full-duration ascent burn with all 33 Raptor engines, completed stage separation, executed a flip maneuver, and initiated a boostback burn.

The booster demonstrated the ability to descend at a higher angle of attack, increasing atmospheric drag and enabling a slower descent. This could reduce the amount of propellant needed for landing, with valuable data collected to inform future designs.

The upper stage of the Starship ignited its six Raptor engines post-separation and completed its burn using updated components, including a new nitrogen purging system and enhanced joint preload.

However, the payload bay door failed to open, preventing the release of Starlink simulator satellites. A subsequent attitude control issue hindered re-entry alignment and bypassed engine relight procedures. Contact with the vehicle was lost approximately 46 minutes into flight.

SpaceX views Flight 9 as a milestone and intends to apply lessons learned to improve Starship’s reliability. Preparations are underway for the next test.#ElonMuskTalks