The Wall Street Journal

SpaceX Ship Explodes During Test Flight

Elon Musk’s company was conducting the seventh flight of its Starship rocket

Updated January 16, 2025 at 11:12 PM ET

An uncrewed vehicle operated by SpaceX exploded during a test flight on Thursday, temporarily disrupting air travel as pieces of it streaked across the sky.

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket from a company site in Texas a little after 5:30 p.m. ET, the company’s seventh mission of a powerful-but-still-experimental vehicle that consists of a booster that propels a spacecraft stacked on top.