SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded just minutes after its seventh test flight, an unexpected blow after the Elon Musk-led company made steady progress in advancing the vehicle’s capabilities.
While the top part of the rocket was lost, SpaceX succeeded in another complex maneuver, bringing the super heavy lower part of the spacecraft back to Earth and using giant mechanical arms to hold it in mid-air.
Why did the SpaceX Starship explode? Elon Musk explains…
Explaining the failure, Elon Musk shares on
In addition to obviously double checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that amount and possibly increase the vent area. There is nothing so far to suggest that the next launch will be pushed beyond next month.
Meanwhile, the FAA revealed that it briefly slowed the plane and diverted the plane around the area where the spacecraft debris was falling, adding that normal operations have resumed.
Commercial flights diverted
Commercial flights operated by JetBlue Airways Corp and American Airlines Group Inc were forced to take avoidance action after an explosion aboard a failed SpaceX Starship test flight on Thursday, a Bloomberg report said.
Some flights over the Caribbean were seen diverting or circling mid-flight on the tracking website Flightradar24. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it slowed the plane and changed its direction around the area where the spacecraft debris was falling.
The US aviation regulator said normal operations had resumed.
Everything You Need to Know About Starship Exploding
The largest and most powerful rocket ever built lifted off from the launchpad at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas at 4:37 p.m. local time Thursday. It was to attempt to reach close to orbital speed and deploy 10 dummy spacecraft, which were designed to mimic the size, shape and weight of the advanced SpaceX Starlink satellites that Starship will launch in the future.
But a little less than 8 1/2 minutes into the mission, SpaceX lost contact with Starship. Launch commentators then stated that the vehicle was “lost”. Musk later reposted a video of debris falling from the sky on his social media site X, saying, “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed.”
Thursday’s mission marked the shortest Starship test flight since November 2023, when SpaceX lost the vehicle about eight minutes into its second launch. The apparent explosion was an unexpected turn as SpaceX had repeatedly made progress with its Starship test flights, advancing the vehicle with each new launch attempt.
(With inputs from Reuters and Bloomberg)
