Watch: SpaceX's Starship spirals uncontrollably as fuel leaks in dramatic footage
SpaceX's Starship's ninth test flight started smoothly, leading many to believe it might be successful, but then the real trouble began.
After the last two test flights ended prematurely with the destruction of the aircraft, Tuesday's Starship successfully reached orbit.
However, the spacecraft failed to fully open its payload bay door, blocking the planned release of simulated Starlink satellites.
Around 30 minutes into the mission, SpaceX confirmed a fuel tank leak aboard the vehicle.
— AFP (@AFP)
In the footage, the first-stage Super Heavy booster exploded shortly before its expected splashdown, and fuel leaks on the upper-stage vehicle caused it to spin uncontrollably before its planned re-entry through Earth's atmosphere.
The company posted a statement on X reading, "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test. With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's test will help us improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary.'
'We've been dealing with some leaks on the Ship,' SpaceX communications manager Dan Huot said on the livestream.
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'This is also what led to that loss of attitude control. So at this point, we are kind of in a spin.'
Due to the issue, mission controllers scrapped a planned demonstration to reignite one of Starship's Raptor engines while in orbit.
Despite the complications, Starship is still on course to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and splash down in the Indian Ocean. However, the uncontrolled spin raises serious concerns about its heat shield surviving the descent.
'As we are not able to control the attitude of the ship as we get into entry, it will enter in whatever orientation it is in at the time, which does not bode well for the ship's heat shield,' Huot said. 'So it is definitely coming down. It is definitely heading to the Indian Ocean, but our chances of making it all the way down are pretty slim.'
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