BOCA CHICA BEACH, Texas – SpaceX on Tuesday launched its ninth test flight of Starship from Texas, marking the first test flight since it broke apart and its explosion could be seen from Florida.
SpaceX said “after completing the investigation into the loss of Starship on its eighth flight test, several hardware changes have been made to increase reliability." The Federal Aviation Administration said last week it had authorized SpaceX to attempt another test flight.
[See the explosion as seen from Florida of Starship’s last test flight]
During its last test flight from Boca Chica Beach, Texas, in March, Starship reached nearly 90 miles in altitude when trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed.
It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online.
This test flight marks the first launch of a “a flight-proven Super Heavy booster, which previously launched and returned on Starship’s seventh flight test.” SpaceX said this booster is “designed to be fully and rapidly reusable, with future generations capable of multiple launches per day.”
Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican border.
SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape Canaveral, home to the company’s smaller Falcon rockets that ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.