Terrifying Moment As Elon Musk's SpaceX Rocket Explodes And Plummets Back To Earth After Losing Contact

Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket was caught on camera bursting into flames before crashing back to Earth, marking yet another setback in the company’s attempts to deploy mock satellites.

For the second time this year, SpaceX's Starship suffered a disastrous failure. Less than 10 minutes after launching from Starbase in Texas on March 3 at 5:30 PM CT, the spacecraft experienced major issues, lost contact with ground control, and ultimately exploded in midair.

Despite high expectations, the test flight did not go as planned. This was Starship’s eighth test flight overall and the second of the year aimed at deploying mock satellites. SpaceX later released a report summarizing what went wrong.

According to the report, the Super Heavy booster successfully ignited all 33 of its Raptor engines, pushing Starship through its initial ascent. About two and a half minutes into the flight, the booster shut down all but three of its Raptor engines as part of the planned hot-staging separation.

At first, things seemed to be going well. The booster even managed to relight 11 out of its planned 13 engines for a boost-back burn to return to the launch site. But then, things took a turn.

The official SpaceX report stated: "Prior to the end of the ascent burn, an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship resulted in the loss of several Raptor engines. This in turn led to a loss of attitude control and ultimately a loss of communications with Starship."

The launch was initially going well Brandon Bell/Getty Images

The issue resulted in what SpaceX described as a "rapid unscheduled disassembly," ultimately leading to the loss of communication with the vehicle.

The company further noted: "Final contact with Starship came approximately nine minutes and 30 seconds after liftoff."

As a result, several Florida airports—including Miami and Orlando—briefly suspended flights, as reported by the BBC.

Meanwhile, videos circulating on social media showed debris burning up in the sky above the Bahamas, with some residents claiming they took cover out of fear.

The failed test flight quickly became a viral moment, with many social media users posting clips of the explosion.

One widely shared video on Twitter showed flaming debris falling toward Earth, with the caption: "If NASA had the failure rate SpaceX does, Elon Musk would be firing everyone and Congress would be demanding to know where the money is going."

SpaceX later addressed the incident on Twitter, stating: "Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses."

According to the company, the spacecraft remained within a designated launch corridor to minimize risks to people on the ground, in the air, and at sea.

Following the explosion, SpaceX said it immediately coordinated with the FAA, air traffic control, and other safety officials to carry out a pre-planned emergency response.

The company reassured the public: "Any surviving debris would have fallen within the pre-planned Debris Response Area. There are no toxic materials present in the debris and no significant impacts expected to occur to marine species or water quality," It also advised that anyone who might come across debris should report it to local authorities.

Despite the failure, SpaceX remained optimistic, emphasizing its commitment to learning from the incident. The company stated: "We will review the data from today's flight test to better understand root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship's reliability."

The test didn't quite go to plan Twitter/ SpaceX

Looking ahead, SpaceX promised: "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight will help us improve Starship's reliability.

"We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests."