SpaceX's Starship explodes during ascent in its seventh test flight

The Starship's seventh test flight ended in an explosion when the vehicle's upper stage "experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn" over the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX chief Elon Musk posted a video of the event, with debris streaking across and lighting up the sky. During the company's webcast, Dan Huot from SpaceX's communications team said they "saw engines dropping out on telemetry" by the end of the ascent burn and that they ultimately lost contact with the Ship, which is what the company calls the vehicle's upper stage. SpaceX said in a tweet that it will continue reviewing data from the test to understand the explosion's root cause. 

Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed! ✨
pic.twitter.com/nn3PiP8XwG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025

The Federal Aviation Administration issued an advisory for pilots after the incident, warning them about falling debris in certain areas. SpaceX said before the test that it's meant to "launch a new generation ship with significant upgrades" and it was supposed to conduct Starship's first payload deployment test with the help of 10 Starlink simulators.

Despite the Starship's upper stage burning up, the test was still partially a success. The Ship's Raptor engines fired up during the ascent burn before the ground team lost contact with it around 8 minutes into the flight. SpaceX was also able to retrieve the Super Heavy booster, catching the vehicle's first stage with the mechanical arms on its Starbase launch tower. 

Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/aq91TloYzY

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2025

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/spacexs-starship-explodes-during-ascent-in-its-seventh-test-flight-034440913.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/science/space/spacexs-starship-explodes-during-ascent-in-its-seventh-test-flight-034440913.html?src=rss
Created 2mo | Jan 17, 2025, 5:20:13 AM


Login to add comment

Other posts in this group

The first Xbox handheld might not come from Microsoft

It took a few years of dealing with poorly optimized handheld PCs, but

Mar 10, 2025, 11:10:11 PM | Engadget
Bluesky adds 3-minute video uploads and inbox management features

Bluesky continues to beef up its video capabilities. The app’s latest update adds support for

Mar 10, 2025, 11:10:10 PM | Engadget
Elon Musk says a 'massive cyberattack' is to blame for X being down

Perhaps like the loser of the proposed cage fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg

Mar 10, 2025, 8:50:17 PM | Engadget
PlayStation's Mark Cerny says a version of FSR 4 could be implemented on the PS5 Pro

AMD just debuted its new FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4) upscaling tech on the latest

Mar 10, 2025, 8:50:15 PM | Engadget
Volunteer photographers are fixing Wikipedia's terrible celebrity headshots

Go to a profile of any celebrity on Wik

Mar 10, 2025, 8:50:14 PM | Engadget
Apple is reportedly planning a major redesign for iOS 19 and macOS 16

Apple is planning to dramatically rethink the look and feel of its operating systems with the introduction of the next version of iOS, iPadOS and macOS,

Mar 10, 2025, 8:50:13 PM | Engadget