
Screenshot from video of the SpaceX Starship test flight seven launch. Image: SpaceX
At launch, all 33 Raptor engines powered up, with successful separation of rocket and spacecraft, before a fire appears to have developed in the craft.
SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft, which took off yesterday (16 January), was destroyed during its seventh test flight.
Starship is notable as it is the largest spacecraft in the world, standing at an overall height of 403ft (123m) and a total diameter of 29.5ft (9m). It packs 16.7m pounds (7,590 tons) of force at liftoff.
It was supposed to fly across the Gulf of Mexico from the US state of Texas on a near loop around the world, in a similar manner to Starship’s previous test flights and would have then finished its journey in the Indian Ocean. It marked the first flight of a new and upgraded spacecraft, and SpaceX had also packed it with 10 dummy satellites which were due for release.
Despite initial optimism, the company, which is owned by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, said that Starship’s six engines appeared to shut down one by one, and contact (or “telemetry” as SpaceX put it) was lost just 8m 30sec into the test flight. This led to a rapid unscheduled disassembly.
The last data received from Starship indicated that it reached an altitude of 90 miles (146km) and a velocity of 13,245mph (21,317kmph).
According to FlightRadar24, the destruction of the craft led to disruptions to air traffic, with dozens of commercial flights being diverted to other airports or altering course in order to avoid potential debris.
There was some success seen during the event, however. SpaceX managed to use the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms, nicknamed ‘chopsticks’, to catch the returning booster.
Elaborating on the incident, SpaceX said that it “served as a reminder that development testing by definition is unpredictable”.
“As always, success comes from what we learn, and this flight test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary.”
The company also said that a data review is underway in order to determine the cause of the failure, and asserted that it will conduct a thorough investigation to make improvements on future test flights.
In addition, SpaceX claimed that any remaining pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area and urged anyone who believes they have identified a piece of debris not to attempt to handle or retrieve the debris directly. Instead, the company said, they are advised to contact local authorities or the SpaceX Debris Hotline.
Meanwhile, Musk’s space flight rival, billionaire Jeff Bezos, has seen more success – his space-tech company, Blue Origin, yesterday successfully launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time.
It had initially been due to set off earlier this week but was postponed due to technical issues.
Early last year, NASA asked both SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop lunar landers for cargo deliveries to the moon. And last November, it announced plans for at least two delivery missions to the moon with large cargo. However, the space agency’s plans will not materialise for almost a decade.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.