On April 20, 2023, SpaceX launched the first Integrated Flight Test of its Starship rocket. The prototype vehicle was destroyed less than four minutes after lifting off from the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. The vehicle became the most powerful rocket ever flown, breaking the half-century-old record held by the Soviet Union's N1 rocket.
The launch was part of SpaceX's Starship development program, which follows an iterative and incremental approach involving frequent—and often destructive—test flights of prototype vehicles. Before the launch, SpaceX officials said they would measure the mission's success "by how much we can learn" and that various planned mission events "are not required for a successful test". The flight was generally regarded as having furthered Starship's development, and a variety of public officials congratulated SpaceX, including NASA administrator Bill Nelson and European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher.
It was planned for the Starship spacecraft to complete nearly one orbit around the Earth before reentering the atmosphere, performing a controlled landing and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. The Super Heavy booster was to have performed a similar landing in the Gulf of Mexico, about off the Texas coast about 8 minutes after liftoff.
The rocket lifted off at 08:33 CDT (13:33 UTC) from SpaceX's private launch site, Boca Chica, Texas. The liftoff damaged the launch pad and its surrounding infrastructure, which SpaceX said was unexpected. Some debris spread into Boca Chica State Park. Three engines did not start or aborted before liftoff, and several others failed during the flight. The vehicle passed max q and entered supersonic flight, but, due to a lack of thrust or thrust vector control, no attempt was made at stage separation. Starship tumbled and the autonomous flight termination system (AFTS) was activated but did not destroy the vehicle immediately, as was intended. The vehicle disintegrated 40 seconds later, nearly 4 minutes into the flight.
After the test, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the launch program pending results of a standard “mishap investigation” overseen by the agency and performed by SpaceX. The FAA said that a return to flight would depend on the agency's determination that future launches would not affect public safety. The FAA announced in September 2023 that SpaceX had identified 63 "corrective actions" that it would need to take before another Starship launch would be allowed. Dust scattered by the launch initially caused some health concerns, but was later found by a laboratory to be ordinary beach sand, not posing a health hazard.
Background
Starship
Developed by SpaceX, Starship is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle, the largest and most powerful ever developed. Standing tall, it is projected to be able to carry of payload in a fully reusable configuration. Its 33 first-stage Raptor engines nominally generate more than of thrust. This is roughly twice that of NASA's Saturn V () which flew between 1967 and 1973; more than NASA's SLS, which produced of thrust at liftoff in 2022; and well above the of thrust from the 30 engines that powered the Soviet Union's N1 rocket between 1969 and 1972.
On its first orbital test flight, Starship broke N1's half-century-old record for the most powerful rocket-stage ever launched.
Both of Starship's stages are designed to perform controlled landings at the launch site so they can be flown multiple times. SpaceX plans to use the launch vehicle for launching satellites, space tourism, and interplanetary spaceflight.
Development
Starting in 2019, SpaceX built several prototypes for the upper stage and launched them a total of nine times, culminating with the launch of Starship SN15 on May 5, 2021 that completed a successful high-altitude flight test of six minutes. SpaceX continued to build new upper stages, completed several first stages, and performed ground tests while waiting for governmental launch clearances.
In 2021, SpaceX filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission in which it described the planned first flight test of the Starship-Super Heavy booster stack. The application said that, after liftoff from Starbase, the booster would separate and land about offshore while Starship would continue flying east and land about off the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
In June 2022, the environmental review of the launch site concluded with a "mitigated FONSI" (Finding of No Significant Impact) ruling, requiring the company to implement various mitigations to local wildlife and historical sites but otherwise permitting a launch license to be issued.