SpaceX catches Starship booster again, but upper stage explodes
Voice of America
In this screen grab taken from the SpaceX broadcast the Starship's Super Heavy Booster returns to the launch pad at Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on Jan. 16, 2025.
Hours after Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin nailed its first-ever orbital mission, SpaceX seized back the spotlight on Thursday as its latest test of Starship, its gargantuan next-generation mega rocket, ended with the upper stage dramatically disintegrating over the Atlantic.
A nun places an object at a makeshift memorial outside Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is a patient, in Rome, March 8, 2025.
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SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, March 6, 2025.
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Staff at the Mission Control outside Austin, Texas celebrating as lunar lander Blue Ghost touches down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP) Private lunar lander Blue Ghost after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)