On January 16, SpaceX, the aerospace company owned by Elon Musk, conducted the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket. However, the rocket exploded and disintegrated just eight and a half minutes after launch. In order to avoid falling debris, dozens of flights passing over the Gulf of Mexico were forced to reroute. Nonetheless, while SpaceX lost the upper part of the rocket, the lower portion, known as the Super Heavy booster, successfully landed and docked with the giant mechanical arm, dubbed “Chopsticks,” on the launch pad.
(Background: Elon Musk watched SpaceX’s sixth test flight of Starship with Trump, where the engines were reignited in space for the first time, but the booster was not successfully recovered.)
(Additional context: Musk aims to send Starship to Mars within two years and build a Martian city within twenty years. What role could blockchain play?)
On January 16, SpaceX conducted the seventh test flight of its heavy-lift rocket, Starship, but it exploded just minutes after liftoff. According to Bloomberg, this was an unexpected setback for SpaceX as the company had previously made steady progress in enhancing the rocket’s performance.
Although SpaceX lost the upper portion of the rocket, the Super Heavy booster returned to the launch pad approximately seven minutes after liftoff. The booster gently descended and successfully docked with the giant mechanical arm, “Chopsticks,” on the launch pad. This marks SpaceX’s second success in recovering the booster out of three attempts.
Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/aq91TloYzY
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2025
The Starship launched from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas at 4:37 PM local time. The initial plan was for Starship to attempt to reach near-orbital speeds and deploy ten mock spacecraft that simulate the size, shape, and weight of future upgraded SpaceX Starlink satellites. This mission was intended to be the first attempt for Starship to deploy payloads in space, representing a significant milestone for the rocket’s formal payload capabilities. However, less than eight and a half minutes into the mission, SpaceX lost communication with Starship, and the launch commentator subsequently announced that the spacecraft had “lost contact.”
Explosion due to fuel leak
Musk retweeted a video of debris falling from the sky, stating, “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed.” Regarding the cause of the crash, he later indicated that preliminary signs suggested an oxygen/fuel leak occurred in a cavity above the engine firewall, with a scale sufficient to exceed the venting capacity. However, there are currently no indications that the next launch will be delayed until next month.
Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed! ✨
pic.twitter.com/nn3PiP8XwG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
This mission was the shortest test flight of Starship since November 2023, when SpaceX lost contact with Starship approximately eight minutes after its second test flight. The explosion incident marks an unexpected twist, as SpaceX had been continuously making progress with each test flight, with each new launch attempt presenting greater challenges.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), responsible for rocket launch and re-entry approvals, reported that “anomalies” occurred during the Starship test flight. The FAA is currently evaluating the operation and has slowed and altered flight routes for aircraft flying over the area where Starship debris fell. It is noteworthy that the day before this incident, Blue Origin, founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its “New Glenn” rocket into orbit, as Blue Origin attempts to challenge SpaceX’s absolute dominance in the commercial space sector.
