SpaceX launch accident likely caused by fire that sent trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean
BY MARCIA DUNN
Updated 1:18 PM EST, January 17, 2025
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX suspects a fire may have caused its Starship to break apartduring liftoff and send trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean.
SpaceX’s Elon Musk said preliminary indications are that leaking fuel built up pressure in the cavity above the engine firewall. The resulting fire would have doomed the spacecraft.
On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered SpaceX to investigate what went wrong. The FAA said there were no reports of injuries from Starship debris.
The 400-foot Starship — the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket — launched from the southern tip of Texas on a test flight early Thursday evening. The booster made it back to the pad for a catch by giant mechanical arms, only the second time in Starship history. But the engines on the still ascending spacecraft shut down one by one, and communication was lost 8 1/2 minutes into the flight.
Dramatic video taken near the Turks and Caicos Islands showed spacecraft debris raining down from the sky in a stream of fireballs. Flights near the falling debris had to be diverted, the FAA said.
SpaceX said Starship remained in its designated launch corridor over the Gulf of Mexico and then the Atlantic. Any surviving wreckage would have fallen along that path over water, the company said on its website.
Starship had been shooting for a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, halfway around the world. Ten dummy satellites, mimicking SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, were on board so the company could practice releasing them.
It was the seventh test flight of a Starship, but it featured a new and upgraded spacecraft. The FAA said it must approve SpaceX’s accident findings and any corrective actions.
SpaceX said the booster and spacecraft for the eighth demo are already built and undergoing testing. Musk said on X the loss was “barely a bump in the road” in his plans to build a fleet of Starships to carry people to Mars.
NASA already has booked two Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade under its Artemis program, the successor to Apollo.
“Spaceflight is not easy. It’s anything but routine,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson posted on X after the accident. “That’s why these tests are so important.”
Earlier Thursday, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company also had mixed results with the debut of its massive New Glenn rocket. It achieved orbit on its first try, putting a test satellite thousands of miles above Earth. But the booster was destroyed after failing to land on a floating platform in the Atlantic.
SpaceX launch accident likely caused by fire that sent trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean
SpaceX suspects a fire may have caused its Starship to break apart during liftoff and send trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean.
apnews.com
Update:
FAA grounds SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s New Glenn over mishaps
By Anthony Leone Brevard CountyPUBLISHED 2:04 PM ET Jan. 17, 2025
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — The Federal Aviation Administration has opened two mishap investigations for SpaceX and Blue Origin after both companies’ test of their rockets Starship and New Glenn, respectively, ended in partial failures.
On Friday, the FAA issued a mishap investigation against SpaceX after the upper stage of the Starship lost communications and then blew up during its seventh test flight on Thursday minutes after its launch from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Videos of the debris of Starship was seen all over social media, with SpaceX founder Elon Musk posting on X (formerly known as Twitter which he owns) the ship’s obliteration as it returned to Earth.
The destruction in the sky was seen over Turks and Caicos and while the FAA stated there have been no reports of people being injured, it is confirming if property damage happened.
The FAA activated a debris response area and redirected aircrafts’ flight path.
SpaceX shared that a possible fire in the aft section of the ship was the cause of its “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
"Following stage separation, the Starship upper stage successfully lit all six Raptor engines and performed its ascent burn to space. Prior to the burn’s completion, telemetry was lost with the vehicle after approximately eight and a half minutes of flight. Initial data indicates a fire developed in the aft section of the ship, leading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly," SpaceX stated.
On Thursday night, Musk posted that, “Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity.”
The company added that SpaceX’s team is going over the data to find the root cause of the accident, which did not cause any injuries.
This means the FAA has grounded Starship until SpaceX can correct an issue and prove the next spacecraft is safe.
“The FAA will be involved in every step of the SpaceX-led mishap investigation process and must approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions. A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety,” the FAA stated.
Before the FAA issued the grounding, SpaceX already stated it would be conducting an investigation.
“We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests,” it stated.
Musk also posted that he did not think there was "Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month."
The first-stage booster, the Super Heavy rocket, was successfully caught by the chopsticks of the launch tower.
During Starship’s first launch attempt in April 2023, it exploded and the FAA issued a string of conditions before the California-based company could try again, which included 63 corrective actions.
New Glenn is also grounded
On Thursday, the FAA issued a mishap investigation into Blue Origin’s maiden rocket launch of its New Glenn rocket.Early Thursday morning, the New Glenn rocket took off from Launch Pad 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
While the launch of the rocket was successful, the first attempt of landing the first-stage booster on the Blue Origin’s cargo ship was not.
While there was no public injuries or property damage, the FAA is requiring the company to perform a mishap investigation and using the same wording it issued to SpaceX, “A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety.”
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