SpaceX Starship completes ascent burn, coasts through space; Musk signals faster launches ahead

WASHINGTON: SpaceX’s Starship successfully completed its ascent burn and is now coasting through space, according to an update shared by the company’s official X handle on Wednesday. The latest test flight marked significant progress for the spacecraft, especially when compared to earlier missions.

Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/aXAwLkRbuK

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 27, 2025

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, confirmed the milestone on X (formerly Twitter), posting: “Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lot of good data to review. Launch cadence for next 3 flights will be faster, at approximately 1 every 3 to 4 weeks.”

The successful engine cutoff and intact heat shield tiles during ascent highlight the technological improvements since previous flights. However, Musk noted that the mission experienced a loss of main tank pressure due to leaks during the coast and re-entry phases.

BREAKING: Elon Musk watching the Starship 9 test flight from the control center. pic.twitter.com/eldff8EdMX

— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) May 27, 2025

Despite this, he emphasised that the mission yielded valuable data and outlined an accelerated launch schedule going forward. The latest development comes just months after the eighth test of the Starship rocket, which saw a partial success. That mission included the successful “catch” of the Super Heavy booster using SpaceX’s mechanical “chopsticks” arms.

However, less than ten minutes into that flight, Starship lost altitude control after several engines failed just before the end of the ascent burn. The spacecraft, launched from SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in Texas, eventually broke apart, with flaming debris seen in the skies over the Atlantic Ocean.

Social media users in Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas captured videos of the dramatic re-entry. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) later reported that space launch debris led to temporary flight disruptions at several Florida airports.

Starship 8 lost contact with SpaceX before it could deploy its test satellites, originally scheduled at the 17-minute mark. Despite earlier setbacks, SpaceX continues to refine Starship’s capabilities, aiming for regular launches every 3-4 weeks as part of its broader ambitions for space exploration. (ANI)