Starship Flight 7: One Step Forward One Step Backward

Debris from the exploded starship caught on camera while falling back towards earth (Image credit: Sky News)

On January 16, 2025, Space X launched its mega rocket comprising of the Starship Rocket and the Super heavy Booster (collectively referred to as Starship). The 403.5-foot-tall space vehicle liffted of from Space X's Starbase site in South Texas at 5:37 PM GMT. 

One of the major goals of this test flight was to catch the Superheavy booster with the launch tower's "chopstick" arms. This goal was attained as the second stage, after separation, fell back towards earth and glided gracefully into the tower's arms for the second time (the first being Starship's Test Flight 5).

SpaceX's seventh Starship megarocket launches on a test flight on Jan. 16, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)

But it was not all smooth riding, for another major goal was to test Space X's new Block 2 Ship. Ship 33 was supposed to fly much of the way around the world, then splash down softly in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia about 66 minutes after liftoff, as it did on the three previous Starship launches.

Some eight minutes into the flight, Space X lost contact with the Starship upper stage, known as "Ship". Subsequently, Ship 33 was observed exploding over the Turks and Caicos Islands. This incident led to debris dispersal, causing several commercial flights to be diverted or delayed. 

Preliminary analyses suggest that Ship 33 exploded due to a propellant leak. Elon Musk indicated that the leak occurred in the cavity above the ship's engine firewall, leading to a pressure buildup that exceeded the venting capacity. This overpressure likely resulted in the explosion during the ascent phase. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated a comprehensive investigation into the incident.