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The 14th test flight marks a crucial milestone toward the company’s ambitions of sending people to the moon and Mars, but it was not a complete success.
Video
SpaceX’s Starship on Monday finally circled Earth, a key milestone toward Elon Musk’s dreams of eventually sending people to Mars, as well as NASA’s plans to send astronauts back to the moon.
But Starship had to return from space early, after less than two orbits instead of the planned six, because of engine problems that occurred during liftoff.
The Starship spacecraft splashed down in the North Pacific near Hawaii just before noon, ending its journey with a fiery explosion when, not unexpectedly, leftover methane fuel ignited.
Some gasps of disappointment arose at SpaceX headquarters, heard during video coverage of the flight. After the previous flight, Starship had toppled over gently enough to remain intact, floating in the water.
“As you saw, not quite a soft, extra-soft splashdown like we had on the last one,” Dan Huot, one of the SpaceX commentators, said during the webcast.
Mr. Huot said the test flight, the 14th for this rocket, remained a success. “Most importantly, Starship made it to orbit,” he said.
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