What Is SpaceX’s Starship? A two-part launch vehicle, Starship is designed to carry 100 tons to Mars or transport up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights, according to SpaceX. The vehicle could also be used for point-to-point flights, reducing times for most international trips to just 30 minutes. Technically speaking, Starship refers to the upper part of the rocket, where cargo — such as satellites or humans — would be carried, with the section underneath called the Super Heavy booster. When stacked on the launch pad, the entire vehicle stands around 403 feet (123 meters) tall. Super Heavy is designed to be fully reusable and has already been caught in “chopsticks” three times since the first successful test on October 13, 2024. Starship is also designed to land, though that has not been tested yet. What Happened During The Last SpaceX Starship Test Flight Starship’s eighth flight test launched on March 6, 2025. After engine problems, it ended in “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” after which debris was seen from Florida to the Caribbean. According to SpaceX, approximately five and a half minutes into its ascent burn, a flash occurred in one of the engines, resulting in an “energetic event” that led to the loss of the engine. The vehicle was lost nine and a half minutes into the flight. That followed a similar ending on January 17, when Starship broke up close to Haiti. Starship was also tested twice in 2023 and four times in 2024. The SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024, for the ... More Starship Flight 5 test. SpaceX successfully "caught" the first-stage booster of its Starship megarocket Sunday as it returned to the launch pad after a test flight, a world first in the company's quest for rapid reusability. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES / AFP) (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images