SpaceX's latest launch was thrilling, but ended with the rocket being destroyed. Screengrab via SpaceX/X

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight Thursday, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad.

Elon Musk’s company said Starship broke apart — what it called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly." The spacecraft's six engines appeared to shut down one by one during ascent, with contact lost just 8 1/2 minutes into the flight.

The spacecraft — a new and upgraded model making its debut — was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights. SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them.

A minute before the loss, SpaceX used the launch tower's giant mechanical arms to catch the returning booster, a feat achieved only once before. The descending booster hovered over the launch pad before being gripped by the pair of arms dubbed chopsticks.

The thrill of the catch quickly turned into disappointment for not only the company, but the crowds gathered along the southern tip of Texas.

“It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about [the] ship,” said SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot. “It’s a flight test. It’s an experimental vehicle," he stressed.

The last data received from the spacecraft indicated an altitude of 90 miles and a velocity of 13,245 mph.

Musk said a preliminary analysis suggests leaking fuel may have built up pressure in a cavity above the engine firewall. Fire suppression will be added to the area, with increased venting and double-checking for leaks, he said via X.

The 400-foot rocket had thundered away in late afternoon from Boca Chica Beach near the Mexican border. The late hour ensured a daylight entry halfway around the world in the Indian Ocean. But the shiny retro-looking spacecraft never got nearly that far.

SpaceX had made improvements to the spacecraft for the latest demo and added a fleet of satellite mockups. The test satellites were the same size as SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites and, like the spacecraft, were meant to be destroyed upon entry.

Musk plans to launch actual Starlinks on Starships before moving on to other satellites and, eventually, crews.

It was the seventh test flight for the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket. NASA has reserved a pair of Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. Musk’s goal is Mars.

Hours earlier in Florida, another billionaire’s rocket company — Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin — launched the newest supersized rocket, New Glenn. The rocket reached orbit on its first flight, successfully placing an experimental satellite thousands of miles above Earth. But the first-stage booster was destroyed, missing its targeted landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic.

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Abbott highlights Texas AI boom, with Houston projects on the horizon

AI investments are booming in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott says. And Houston is poised to benefit from this surge.

At a recent Texas Economic Development Corp. gathering in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Abbott said AI projects on the horizon in the Lone Star State would be bigger than the $500 billion multistate Project Stargate, according to the Dallas Business Journal. So far, Stargate includes three AI data centers in Texas.

Stargate, a new partnership among OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank, and the federal government, is building AI infrastructure around the country. The project’s first data center is in Abilene, and the center’s second phase is underway. Once the second phase is finished, the 875-acre site will host eight buildings totaling about 4 million square feet with a power capacity of 1.2 gigawatts. An additional 600 megawatts of capacity might be added later.

On Sept. 23, Stargate announced the development of another five AI data centers in the U.S., including a new facility in Shackelford County, Texas, near Abilene. That facility is likely a roughly $25 billion, 1.4-gigawatt AI data center that Vantage Data Centers is building on a 1,200-acre site in Shackelford County.

Another will be in Milam County, between Waco and Austin. In conjunction with Stargate, OpenAI plans to occupy the more than $3 billion center, which will be situated on a nearly 600-acre site, the Austin Business Journal reported. OpenAI has teamed up with Softbank-backed SB Energy Global to build the facility.

Abbott said several unannounced AI projects in Texas — namely, data centers — will be larger than Stargate.

“Bottom line is ... when you look at diversification, the hottest thing going on right now is artificial intelligence,” Abbott said.

The Houston area almost certainly stands to attract some of the projects teased by the governor.

In Houston, Taiwanese tech manufacturer Foxconn already is investing $450 million to make AI servers at the 100-acre Fairbanks Logistics Park, which Foxconn recently purchased for a reported $142 million. The park features four industrial buildings totaling one million square feet. It appears Foxconn will manufacture the servers for Apple and Nvidia, both of which have announced they’ll open server factories in Houston.

The Foxconn, Apple, and Nvidia initiatives are high-profile examples of Houston’s ascent in the AI economy. A report released in July by the Brookings Institution identified Houston as one of the country’s 28 “star” hubs for AI.

The Greater Houston Partnership says the Houston area is undergoing an "AI-driven data revolution."

“As Houston rapidly evolves into a hub for AI, cloud computing, and data infrastructure, the city is experiencing a surge in data center investments driven by its unique position at the intersection of energy, technology, and innovation,” the partnership says.

Houston native picked for 2025 class of NASA astronaut candidates

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NASA has selected 10 new astronaut candidates, including one whose hometown is Houston, for its 2025 training class. The candidates will undergo nearly two years of training before they can assume flight assignments.

The 10 future astronauts were introduced during a recent ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, whose facilities include an astronaut training center. NASA received more than 8,000 applications for the 10 slots.

“Representing America’s best and brightest, this astronaut candidate class will usher in the Golden Age of innovation and exploration as we push toward the moon and Mars,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA Johnson.

NASA’s 24th astronaut class reported for duty in mid-September at Johnson Space Center. Their training will prepare them for missions to the International Space Station and the moon, among other activities. Graduates will become members of NASA’s astronaut corps.

Among the recently selected candidates is Anna Menon, who was born in Houston and considers it her hometown. She’s married to NASA astronaut Dr. Anil Menon, a flight surgeon who completed his training in 2022.

Most recently, Anna Menon was a senior engineer at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, where she spent seven years managing crew operations for the Dragon and Starship spacecraft. Previously, Menon worked at NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston, where she supported medical software and hardware aboard the International Space Station.

In 2024, Menon flew into space as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn private spacecraft. A highlight of the low-orbit trip was the first commercial spacewalk.

Texas native Rebecca Lawler, a native of the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Little Elm, is one of Menon’s nine classmates.

Lawler, a former lieutenant commander in the Navy, was a Navy P-3 pilot and experimental test pilot who logged over 2,800 flight hours aboard more than 45 aircraft. At the time she was chosen to be an astronaut candidate, Lawler was a test pilot for United Airlines.

The eight other astronaut candidates in the 2025 class are:

  • Ben Bailey, who was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Lauren Edgar, whose hometown is Sammamish, Washington
  • Adam Fuhrmann, who’s from Leesburg, Virginia
  • Cameron Jones, a native of Savanna, Illinois
  • Yuri Kubo, a native of Columbus, Indiana
  • Imelda Muller, whose hometown is Copake Falls, New York
  • Erin Overcash, who’s from Goshen, Kentucky
  • Katherine Spies, a native of San Diego