SpaceX loses communication with 7th Starship rocket

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and Nintendo’s newest release.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

00:03Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:05Wall Street is trading higher on Friday,

00:07putting stocks on track for their best week

00:09since the November elections.

00:11Economic data is doing little to temper the enthusiasm.

00:14Housing construction ended 2024 at its fastest pace

00:17since the early part of the year.

00:20Homebuilders, however, are keeping their eyes

00:22on mortgage rates, which recently topped 7%

00:25for the first time since May.

00:28Shifting now to other top business news,

00:31the number seven isn't so lucky for Elon Musk's SpaceX.

00:35A seventh test flight for its Starship rocket

00:38ended with an explosion on the way into orbit.

00:41The company confirmed on X that pieces of Starship

00:44fell back to Earth and, quote, into the Atlantic Ocean

00:47within the predefined hazard areas.

00:50The falling debris prompted the FAA

00:52to issue an aircraft warning over the Caribbean,

00:55causing several airlines to divert flights.

00:59SpaceX did manage to retain the rocket's booster,

01:02which landed safely back to Earth.

01:04This reusable so-called super-heavy booster

01:07is key to keeping costs down

01:10as Musk builds out his space business.

01:12SpaceX already has a lucrative partnership with NASA

01:15and is looking to maintain its dominance

01:17in the space industry.

01:18Musk, however, is not the only billionaire

01:20with space ambitions.

01:22Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin had a successful test flight

01:25about 24 hours before the SpaceX explosion.

01:28Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket

01:30made its debut voyage into space

01:32after previous attempts had to be scratched.

01:35Bezos is also testing the viability of reusable rockets

01:40as he looks to build a broadband satellite network in space

01:43for his other company, Amazon.

01:46That'll do it for your daily briefing

01:48from the New York Stock Exchange.

01:50I'm Conway Gittens with The Street.