SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded just minutes into its seventh test flight, an unexpected setback after the Elon Musk-led company had made steady progress advancing the vehicle’s capabilities.
Soon after the incident, Elon Musk shares on X, Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity.
Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month.
Meanwhile, FAA revealed it briefly slowed down and diverted the aircraft around area where space vehicle debris was falling, normal operations have resumed.
While the top section of the rocket was lost, SpaceX succeeded in another complicated maneuver, bringing the spacecraft’s Super Heavy lower portion back down to Earth and catching it in midair using giant mechanical arms.
The largest and most powerful rocket ever built lifted off the launchpad at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas at 4:37 p.m. local time Thursday. It was supposed to attempt to reach near orbital speeds and deploy 10 dummy spacecraft, designed to mimic the size, shape and weight of the upgraded SpaceX Starlink satellites that Starship will be launching in the future.
2025-01-17T01:36:08Z