SpaceX lost contact with its Starship rocket in space on Thursday during the company's eighth test mission, dooming a satellite deployment demonstration in the company's second consecutive Starship failure this year.

Summary

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft exploded in space minutes after launching from Texas, marking the second consecutive failure this year.

The rocket spun uncontrollably before breaking apart, with debris seen over Florida and the Bahamas. The cause remains unclear, though multiple engines shut down before contact was lost.

The failure raises concerns about setbacks in Elon Musk’s Mars rocket program. The FAA temporarily halted flights at major Florida airports due to falling debris.

A similar Starship failure in January scattered wreckage over the Caribbean.

  • gressen@lemm.eeEnglish
    191·
    2 days ago

    One of the inner engines had a visible outgassing pointing to structural failure in the engine itself. This was followed briefly by an engine explosion. No reasonable fire suppression system can handle an event this size. The best way to address this is detecting it early and running an emergency shutdown of the valves on the supply lines.