David Bridges
The seventh test flight of SpaceX’s Starship ended dramatically with an explosion, occurring when the vehicle’s upper stage encountered what the company described as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn” over the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, shared a video capturing the event, showcasing debris illuminating the sky as it fell. During the live broadcast, Dan Huot from SpaceX’s communications team noted that they “saw engines dropping out on telemetry” towards the end of the ascent burn. This ultimately led to the loss of contact with the Ship, the term used for the upper stage of the vehicle. In a follow-up tweet, SpaceX confirmed their commitment to analyzing the test data to pinpoint the explosion’s underlying cause.
Following this incident, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning for pilots regarding potential falling debris in specific areas. Prior to the test, SpaceX had stated that this flight was intended to “launch a new generation ship with significant upgrades,” and it was meant to execute Starship’s first payload deployment test utilizing 10 Starlink simulators as part of its mission.
In spite of the catastrophic failure of the Starship’s upper stage, the test was deemed partially successful. The Ship’s Raptor engines successfully ignited during the ascent burn, and although contact was lost approximately 8 minutes into the flight, the mission did yield some positive outcomes. Notably, SpaceX managed to recover the Super Heavy booster, achieving a significant milestone by catching the vehicle’s first stage using the mechanical arms on its Starbase launch tower.
Daniel Mercer
Brandon Fletcher
