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SpaceX launched its seventh test flight Starship rocket on Thursday, but the spacecraft was destroyed after a booster capture back at the pad.
Elon MuskThe company said Starship broke apart, calling it a “rapid unplanned disassembly.” The rocket appeared to pull out the SpaceX launch pad at its Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, only eight and a half minutes into the mission, ground control announced that it had lost all communication with the ship.
Flights near the Turks and Caicos Islands were seen diverting to avoid debris from Thursday’s explosion and footage was shared of debris falling from the sky in the area.
Musk shared a video fall from the waste, write: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”
The Federal Aviation Administration announced a brief delay of flights in and around the Florida area due to possible falling debris from the launch.
The spacecraft would hover over the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world, similar to previous tests. SpaceX packed the new and upgraded model with 10 dummy satellites to practice them.
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A minute before the loss, SpaceX used the giant mechanical arms of the launch tower to catch the returning booster, a feat that has only been achieved once before. The descending first stage superheavy booster floated across the launch pad before being grabbed by the pair of robotic arms dubbed chopsticks.
There were no astronauts on board the test flight mission and the last data received from the spacecraft indicated an altitude of 146 kilometers and a speed of 13,245 km/h.
“Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship’s engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure beyond the wind capacity,” Musk wrote on X a few hours after Flight 7 launched. “Besides of course double checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase the vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing the next launch past next month.
It was the seventh test flight for the world’s largest and most powerful rocket. The mission marked the second time that SpaceX was able to return and capture the stage booster with the launch tower.
NASA has reserved a few Starships to land astronauts on the moon later this decade, while Musk’s ultimate goal is Mars.
He also plans to launch real Starlinks on Starships before moving on to other satellites and, eventually, crews.
– With files from The Associated Press
& copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
