Trouble for Elon Musk, his SpaceX rocket disintegrates on a test flight and this is the incredible cost for the company
SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft suffered a “rapid unscheduled disassembly during ascent,” the company confirmed following issues with the test flight.

The seventh flight of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle did not go as many had hoped. Multiple videos began circulating on social media showing debris from the spacecraft falling from the sky. This failure represents a significant financial loss for the company, which stated that “success depends on what we learn.”
The Starship launch started smoothly. The rocket lifted off, and its booster returned to Earth intact. However, a few minutes later, SpaceX lost contact with Starship.
The upper part of the rocket system appears to have disintegrated somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico or possibly the Caribbean Sea. The planned trajectory was to launch from South Texas over the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, then east near Cuba, crossing the Atlantic Ocean to splash down in the Indian Ocean.
“The Starship spacecraft suffered a rapid unscheduled disassembly during ascent. Teams will continue reviewing the data from today’s flight test to better understand the root cause. In a test like this, success depends on what we learn, and today’s flight will help improve the reliability of the Starship spacecraft,” SpaceX explained on X.
Why Did SpaceX’s Starship Disintegrate?
On his X account, Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, explained that preliminary evidence points to a “leak of oxygen/fuel in the cavity located above the ship’s engine firewall,” which was large enough to generate pressure that exceeded the venting system’s capacity.
“In addition to rechecking for leaks, we’ll add a fire suppression system to that area and likely increase the venting surface. So far, there’s nothing to suggest delaying the next launch beyond next month,” Musk added.
The billionaire also posted the following message alongside a video of the falling debris: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”
How Much Money Did SpaceX Lose After Starship’s Seventh Flight Failure?
SpaceX has not disclosed the exact cost of the Starship rocket or how much was lost in today’s failure. According to The Motley Fool, building Starbase cost SpaceX around $3 billion.
Additionally, SpaceX has spent approximately $5 billion on Starship’s research and development to date, with testing still ongoing. The total costs of Starship could approach $10 billion, not including the expense of building each spacecraft once commercial operations begin.