Much was riding on Flight 9 for Elon Musk’s giant moon and Mars rocket after debris from January and March flights fell into the Atlantic Ocean, disrupting air travel.

Starship 's two stages separated as planned on Flight 9, and the upper stage even reached space, which was an improvement over the giant vehicle's most recent two flights. But SpaceX ended up losing both stages before they could accomplish their full flight goals.

Elon Musk said his stint in Washington taught him that “the federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized.”

The final concept, which was unveiled in 2019, consisted of a Starship composed of stainless steel instead of carbon fiber (per the original proposal), with reusable heat shield tiles on the windward side (similar to the Space Shuttle).

As NASA and SpaceX pivot toward speeding astronauts to Mars, U.S. scientists are testing technologies that could transform the Red Planet into an astonishing New Eden.