Moment SpaceX rocket spins out of control leading to re-entry explosion

Another set back for Elon Musk

Only a matter of hours ago, SpaceX undertook its ninth Starship test flight from its Texas Starbase, however, the flight ended in relative disappoint for the team of rocket scientists.

The rocket ran into trouble when a small fuel leak caused the spacecraft to start spinning uncontrollably after the ship had made orbit.

Up re-entry the craft disintegrated through the atmosphere, although did finish in the designated flight zone that allows for such matters to not become problematic to the wider public.

SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot could be heard on the stream saying “we are in a little bit of a spin. We did spring a leak in some of the fuel tank systems inside of Starship."

It is now the third straight major problem in a Starship launch that SpaceX has experienced in recent months.

In true corporate face-saving jargon, Space X described the incident as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”

SpaceX said in a statement: “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly.

“Teams will continue to review data and work towards our next flight test.”

Musk commented on the incident in a post on X.

He wrote: “Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase. Lot of good data to review.

“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.”