SpaceX launched Starship on Thursday for a seventh test flight, after weather concerns pushed back an experiment that will feature the spacecraft’s first payload deployment test, and while it successfully caught the Super Heavy Booster, Starship lost connection and “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
SpaceX mega rocket Starship stands ready for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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Key Takeaways
- SpaceX launched Starship from Boca Chica, Texas, at around 5:37 p.m. EST and it was reported to have broken up over the Turks and Caicos Islands eight and a half minutes later.
- Starship’s Super Heavy booster was set to reuse one of its 33 engines for the first time, and SpaceX successfully caught the booster with two mechanical arms for the second time ever, about seven-and-a-half minutes after takeoff (the first time was in the fifth test launch).
- Shortly after the catch there was a problem. A SpaceX commentator on the livestream said “we do believe that we have lost the ship during its ascent phase … during that ascent phase a couple of the engines dropped out and then shortly thereafter we lost communication.”
- SpaceX later said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn.”
- Starship’s flight was meant to last just over 66 minutes, according to SpaceX, and was set to feature several experiments for the spacecraft, including Starship’s first payload deployment test—a set of 10 replica Starlink satellites—and tests for upgrades to the spacecraft’s flight computer, avionics and heat shield.
- During Starship’s sixth launch test, in November, the spacecraft splashed down in the Indian Ocean but an attempted catch of its Super Heavy booster was skipped.
What Went Wrong With The Launch?
SpaceX said it will share more information on what went wrong with the launch in the coming hours and days. “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability,” SpaceX said in a post on X.
What To Watch For
SpaceX has requested approval from the FAA to increase the maximum number of annual Starship launches from five to 25. The FAA is expected to rule on the proposal after a public comment period ends on Jan. 17.
Key Background
SpaceX has launched Starship six times since the spacecraft’s debut flight in April 2023. SpaceX has tested Starship to make the spacecraft fully reusable, allowing the ship to carry both cargo and people to space. Starship is considered the largest and most powerful rocket ever developed and stands at nearly 400 feet. The first test lasted just four minutes, and a second test flight in November 2023 lasted eight minutes because of a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” The spacecraft successfully reentered Earth’s atmosphere during its fourth test launch in June 2024, during which SpaceX maintained contact with Starship throughout its flight and the spacecraft completed its first landing burn about an hour after launch.
Tangent
Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn heavy lift rocket into orbit for the first time Thursday, though the company failed to recover the reusable booster stage of the rocket. Bezos’ Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX have competed in recent years for governmental contracts and funding to develop a lunar lander for Artemis V, a NASA mission that will return astronauts to the moon in 2029. NASA has said it intends to ask both companies to develop cargo versions of NASA’s crewed human landing systems.
Forbes Valuation
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This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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