Last night Elon Musk’s company SpaceX attempted to fly its Starship megarocket. A seventh experiment which was to confirm the achievements of previous flights, but also to open a new chapter in the development of the launcher. SpaceX was, as usual, very confident about this new kind of mission. It was to consist of three important phases.
Fine-tuned programming
First, Starship had to take off using its 33 engines. The first stage would then push the spacecraft before the two blocks separated. Once this division was made, the booster had to return to Earth and be “caught” by a large steel tower. An extremely delicate maneuver, but already successful by the company during the 5th flight of the Starship. Successful during this 7th flight, it is the only satisfaction of the night for SpaceX.
The second important point for this mission was the Starship’s flight movements. Once in orbit, the spacecraft had to simulate the release of satellites. Starship also had to restart its engines to prove they were working properly.
Finally, the last part of the flight, the Starship had to return to Earth safely. This was the most difficult section for SpaceX so far. The company had great difficulty returning its ship intact. To give herself more chances, she had completely revised the design of her ship’s heat shield. An effort that ultimately was for nothing.
And for good reason, Starship never needed to return to Earth, the ship did not even reach orbit. Instead, SpaceX gave us a premature finale in the form of a fireworks display that was as impressive as it was dangerous. A few minutes after takeoff, the control center lost contact with the ship. As is usual at such times, the craft self-destructed, scattering into a thousand incandescent pieces in the sky over Puerto Rico.
A blood sausage finish
To say that this 7th Starship is a failure is an understatement. Although Elon Musk was quick to drown out the story by ensuring that this unforeseen spectacle was very entertaining, the consequences of this 7th flight could be terrible for SpaceX.
Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed! ✨
pic.twitter.com/nn3PiP8XwG— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
The company will have to submit to a long and dangerous investigation by the FAA (the American aviation federation) before even thinking about flying again. By blowing up its ship minutes after takeoff, SpaceX not only failed, the company created real mayhem in the aviation world. Planes were diverted and some debris could have fallen on populated areas. The FAA risks asking for even more guarantees from SpaceX before granting it flight permission again.
The company will therefore have to show its credentials in the coming weeks if it does not want to see its program forcibly shut down.
A diagnosis to be made as quickly as possible
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
Far from being discouraged, the SpaceX teams see this 7th flight as an additional challenge. Already during the night, initial conclusions about the origin of this crash were emerging. According to Elon Musk’s own words, a leak of liquid oxygen (the spacecraft’s fuel) is the cause of the signal loss. In this same message on social networks, he already puts pressure on the FAA by ensuring that “nothing indicates” that the next flight should be postponed.
A little sentence that is anything but trivial, and for good reason, the Starship schedule is more than tight. SpaceX must in fact urgently bring its machine into orbit to pass a whole bunch of NASA tests. Without the success of the latter, the Starship will not be selected by the space agency to bring the Artemis 3 astronauts back to Earth. A mission that should bring billions of dollars to SpaceX as well as a place, forever, in the history books.
Despite this incident and this lackluster 7th flight, SpaceX still seems to have the confidence, at least on the surface, of NASA. The head of the agency, Bill Nelson, congratulated SpaceX on this mission and in particular the capture of the first stage. For the rest, you will have to wait for the 8th flight.
