Footage appears to capture debris in the sky after SpaceX’s Starship rocket suffered a ‘rapid unplanned disassembly’ during a flight test on January 16. [Credit: Greg Munch /TMX]
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reached out to Xu on Thursday night to explain what his company believes caused the “rapid unplanned disassembly” of part of the Starship rocket.
The upper stage of a SpaceX Starship rocket exploded during a flight test the space company conducted late Thursday afternoon from its Starbase in Texas.
“Preliminary indications are that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the marine engine firewall that was large enough to create a pressure greater than the capacity of the hatch,” he wrote.
In a post on its website, SpaceX said the “rapid unplanned disengagement” occurred after the upper stage successfully separated from Starship’s Super Heavy booster and began his “ascension burn” into space. It lost telemetry with the upper stage “after about eight and a half minutes of flight,” according to the company.
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“Initial data indicates that the fire developed in the aft section of the ship, which led to a rapid unplanned disassembly,” SpaceX said.
A video has been released on social media that appears to show debris from the Starship rocket in the sky. The video captures parts of it leaving red and white streaks in the sky overhead in Turks and Caicos.
The footage appears to capture debris in the sky after SpaceX’s Starship rocket suffered a ‘rapid unplanned disassembly’ during a January 16 flight test. [Credit: Greg Munch /TMX]
“Besides obviously double-checking leaks, we’ll add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase the vent area,” Musk also said on X, adding that “there’s no indication at this time of delaying the next launch beyond next month.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building on January 24, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)
SpaceX said the tower arms successfully captured the Starship’s Super Heavy booster during a flight test.
Thursday’s launch was SpaceX’s seventh in a row has spent for its Starship rocket over the past two years or so. In November, when SpaceX conducted its sixth test, President-elect Trump came to watch.
A visitor walks near the launch site of the SpaceX Starship rocket on January 14, 2025 near Boca Chica, Texas. (Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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“As always, success comes from what we learn, and this flight test will help us improve the reliability of Starship as SpaceX strives to make life multiplanetary,” SpaceX said. “A review of the data is already underway as we search for the root cause. We will conduct a thorough investigation, in cooperation with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to improve future Starship flight tests.”
Pre-launch testing and preparations are already underway for SpaceX’s planned eighth Starship flight test, the company said. The construction of the ship and carrier for that mission is complete.
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SpaceX’s seventh Starship test flight came on the same day as its competitor Blue Originfounded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, carried out the first launch of its New Glenn rocket.
The Blue Origin launch took place in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
