The seventh test flight of SpaceX’s Starship, which ocurred yesterday, January 16 at 7:37pm ET, is a setback for Elon Musk’s private space company. The rocket, which is a crucial component of the plans for humanity’s return to the Moon, exploded after just 8.5 minutes of flight with debris captured falling over the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean.
The launch was initially seen as a success building upon the incremental achievement of the previous test flights. The mechanical arms, nicknamed Mechazilla successfully captured the Super Heavy booster, as it returned back to the launchpad. But shortly after, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly, which is technical lingo for it blew up and we don’t know why.
The dazzling display of debris as it burned up in the atmosphere puzzled many onlookers. In the video below taken by Dean Olson, you can hear a person asking “Are those shooting stars?”.
There are no reported casualties from the debris but there are concerns about the proximity to habited areas and delays to flights. Starship has purposefully crashed into the Indian Ocean in the previous flights, but the uncertainty around the rocket re-entry and last-minute launch scrubs this week has caused Qantas to delay several flights this week, Reuters reports. FlightRadar24 also reported that many aircraft had to be diverted or delayed following the explosion.
Unusually, Elon Musk has not commented or issued a statement following the aftermath.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to open an investigation. This is standard procedure whenever there is an incident regarding to a space launch vehicle. A rare SpaceX Falcon 9 failure back in July led to a temporary grounding.
However, some doubt that the FAA will be able to do much. Just days ago, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, told a hearing he would review SpaceX penalties by regulators if confirmed for the role, adding he’s been looking into “what’s been happening at the FAA with regard to the launches,” Bloomberg reports. This is a reference to the proposed $633,009 in civil penalties over violations of license requirements during two SpaceX rocket launches in 2023, which angered Musk. Musk is set to join the Trump adminstration leading the newly proposed Department of Government Efficiancy.
SpaceX sees Starship as its future, with its capability to transport both cargo and crew, as well as the yet-to-be-demonstrated features such as in-orbit refueling, vertical landing, and lift-off without a booster. This design is what convinced NASA to choose Starship as the lunar landing vehicle for the now-postponed Artemis III and IV missions.
Put together, Starship and Super Heavy are the biggest and most powerful rockets ever built. In total, they make up a rocket that is 122 meters (400 feet) tall. To get humans back to the Moon, Starship needs to demonstrate continuous safety and success.
“Teams will continue to review data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause,” SpaceX said in a statement. “With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability.”
Starship has several more tests planned in 2025. Starbase General Manager Kathy Lueders mentioned in a conference that she’d love to see Starship caught by the Mechazilla before April, but there are a lot more tests of flight dynamics ahead of that. Starship is also scheduled to perform an in-orbit refueling demonstration this year, but no further details are available at this time.
