El Paso Times Billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk plans to launch Starship again in South Texas after two test flights failed earlier this year. SpaceX last launched its Starship rocket on March 6, but that launch ended in an explosion, causing the vehicle to come apart and a cascade of fiery debris rained down. Following the botched demonstration, both of Starship's test flights in 2025 have ended prematurely after the rocket's upper stage, where crew and cargo would be transported, lost power and broke apart midair. Musk and SpaceX are preparing for Starship's ninth flight test from South Texas, hoping to get the Starship program back on track. SpaceX just received key federal approval to ramp up testing of a vehicle that will play a massive part in future crewed missions to both the moon and Mars. Here's a look back at the first two Starship launches of 2025, as well as a brief look at how the vehicle has fared since its debut flight two years ago. SpaceX Starship launch date? Musk hinted earlier this month that SpaceX could launch its Starship on its ninth flight test from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica near Brownsville, Texas. SpaceX hasn't officially announced a target launch date, and the Federal Aviation Administration hasn't yet issued a launch license. But maritime warnings over the Gulf of Mexico suggest the launch is being targeted for Wednesday, May 21. El Paso Times contacted the FAA on Wednesday, May 21, for an update on Starship's next flight date. Press office officials referred us to a statement released on May 15. While the FAA approved license modifications for the SpaceX Starship Flight 9 mission, the launch may remain grounded for now. "SpaceX may not launch until the FAA either closes the Starship Flight 8 mishap investigation or makes a return to flight determination. The FAA is reviewing the mishap report SpaceX submitted on May 13," the statement said. What is the SpaceX Starship? Starship, the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, is SpaceX's massive spacecraft composed of a 232-foot Super Heavy rocket and the 171-foot upper stage vehicle. At over 400 feet, Starship towers over SpaceX's famous Falcon 9 rocket, one of the world's most active, which stands at nearly 230 feet. Super Heavy alone is powered by 33 of SpaceX’s Raptor engines. The upper section, also called Starship or Ship for short, is the upper stage powered by six Raptor engines that will ultimately travel in orbit. SpaceX is developing Starship as a fully reusable transportation system, meaning the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. In the years ahead, Starship intends to carry cargo and humans to Earth's orbit and deeper into the cosmos. What happened on last Starship test? Explosions marred the first two Starship tests of 2025. In the most recent launch March 6, flight operators lost contact with the upper portion of Starship, which exploded less than 10 minutes into the flight, creating debris visible from Florida to the Caribbean. Despite the failure of the Starship vehicle, the spacecraft's rocket booster has now managed to navigate back to the launch pad twice in a row. The maneuver, first completed in October 2024, involves SpaceX catching the booster with giant mechanical arms known as chopsticks. Having the capability of catching the Starship booster is crucial for SpaceX, giving the company a completely reusable vehicle that can fly again. Explosion was second of 2025 The first Starship demonstration of the year was on Jan. 16 and ended in a fiery explosion after the vehicle was lost during its suborbital flight. Mission controllers lost contact with the spacecraft within 8 1/2 minutes of its flight before determining that it was destroyed in what the company called a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Video on social media showed the explosion and its aftermath as remains of the spacecraft were seen breaking up in what looked like a meteor shower. SpaceX, which investigated with the FAA, determined that the mishap was due to a series of propellant leaks and fires in the aft section of the vehicle that caused “all but one of Starship’s engines to execute controlled shut down sequences." This led to the communication breakdown and the vehicle to trigger its self destruction. When did SpaceX begin Starship flight tests? Prior to the January launch, SpaceX's fourth and final Starship flight test of 2024 unfolded in November in front of a newly elected Trump. Two test flights were completed a year prior, beginning with the maiden launch in April 2023. While the Starship has reached space, it has yet to reach Earth's orbit. The vehicle has also not exploded on every iteration. In three tests between June and November of 2024, Starship flew halfway around the world before reentering Earth's atmosphere and splashing down as planned in the Indian Ocean – critical proof that its basic design is functional. Source: USAToday