Latest news with #StarshipFlight7
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
FAA investigating SpaceX Starship Flight 8 explosion that disrupted commercial flights
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX's latest Starship to attempt to reach space exploded nine minutes after its launch this week, leaving a trail of debris in its wake. Airports in Florida were forced to halt flights as the threat from impacts extended south to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. Now the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is again requiring SpaceX to perform a mishap investigation into what led its eighth Starship test flight to end with a loss of the vehicle. The rocket launched toward space Thursday (March 7) from SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. It was the company's second launch in a row to conclude with an explosion (its Starship Flight 7 test met a similar fate in January) and came as the investigation into the previous "mishap" had yet to be concluded. "A mishap investigation is designed to enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again," the FAA wrote in a statement. "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." Starship was following its planned trajectory when, prior to the cut off of an ascent burn, an "energetic event" in the rare of the Starship caused the loss of several of its engines," wrote SpaceX in a post-flight report published on its website. Communications were subsequently lost with the steel spacecraft, with final contact occurring at 9 minutes and 30 seconds into the flight. "Starship flew within a designated launch corridor to safeguard the public both on the ground, on water and in the air," the company wrote. "Following the anomaly, SpaceX teams immediately began coordination with the FAA, ATO (air traffic control) and other safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses." Airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft before their departure in response to an alert sent out by the FAA. Once the threat from debris passed, normal operations resumed. "A Debris Response Area is activated only if the space vehicle experiences an anomaly with debris falling outside of the identified closed aircraft hazard areas. It allows the FAA to direct aircraft to exit the area and prevent others from entering," the administration wrote in its statement. RELATED STORIES: — SpaceX loses Starship rocket stage again, but catches giant Super Heavy booster during Flight 8 launch (video) — Starship and Super Heavy explained — Will 2025 be the year of Starship? SpaceX's megarocket is growing up. If any debris made it to the ground, SpaceX said it would have fallen within a planned area. Any surviving pieces did not include toxic materials and was safe to sea animals and water quality, according to SpaceX. Still, if any debris is found, the company said it should be reported to local authorities or the SpaceX Debris Hotline (1-866-623-0234 or recovery@ The Starship's launch booster, which SpaceX calls Super Heavy, successfully separated from the vehicle and for only the third time, executed a return to its launch site, where it was caught in mid-air by chopstick-like arms on its launch tower. "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and [Thursday's] flight will help us improve Starship's reliability," SpaceX wrote. "We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests." SpaceX's ability to fly Starship again will be based on the FAA determining that "any system, process or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety," FAA officials wrote.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX Starship Flight 8 Surfers the Same Explosive Fate as Flight 7 — With a Catch
Back on January 16, 2025, SpaceX's Starship Flight 7 exploded after launch. Now, Starship Flight 8, which was essentially a re-do of that mission, has also exploded. Seven minutes after Starship Flight 8 was launched from the SpaceX Starbase site in South Texas, the rocket exploded. This news was confirmed by CNN. Starship Flight 8 experienced "rapid unscheduled disassembly," according to an official statement from SpaceX. Similar to what happened during the January launch, the rocket broke up over the Caribbean, which caused a debris cloud in the area. "Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses," SpaceX said in a statement."We have a lot of measures put [in place] before we ever launch a rocket to make sure that we're keeping the public safe," Dan Huot of SpaceX said. "Those worked last time and they're actively in work right now.' However, the mission was not a complete failure. Although the primary rocket stage of the craft was lost, SpaceX did perform a successful "catch" of the Super Heavy booster. This was also the case during the Starship Flight 7. Both Flight 7 in January and Flight 8 were uncrewed. Elon Musk has yet to make a statement about the explosion.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX loses Starship rocket stage again, but catches giant Super Heavy booster during Flight 8 launch (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Starship's eighth flight was a lot like its seventh. SpaceX launched the eighth test flight of its Starship megarocket today (March 6), sending the 403-foot-tall (123 meters) vehicle aloft from its Starbase site in South Texas at 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 GMT; 5:30 p.m. local Texas time). Seven minutes later, Starship's huge first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, returned to Starbase for a dramatic catch by the launch tower's "chopstick" arms. It was the third time that SpaceX has demonstrated this jaw-dropping technique. Starship's 171-foot-tall (52-meter-tall) upper stage — called Starship, or just "Ship" — kept flying, heading southeast toward the Atlantic Ocean. The Flight 8 plan called for Ship to deploy four payloads — dummy versions of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites — on its suborbital trajectory about 17.5 minutes after liftoff before coming in for a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean off of Western Australia roughly 50 minutes later. That didn't happen, however. Several of Ship's six Raptor engines conked out toward the end of its ascent burn, and the vehicle began to tumble. SpaceX lost contact with Ship about nine minutes into the flight, and it presumably detonated high in the sky shortly thereafter. Today's results mirrored those of Starship Flight 7, which launched on Jan. 16. SpaceX pulled off a Super Heavy chopsticks catch on that day as well, and it lost Ship at about the same point in the mission. "Obviously a lot to go through, a lot to dig through, and we're going to go right at it," SpaceX's Dan Huot said during live launch commentary today after Ship was lost. "We have some more to learn about this vehicle." Spectators in the Bahamas spotted debris from Starship upper stage falling back to Earth in a fiery light show as the Ship vehicle broke apart. Related: SpaceX catches Super Heavy booster on Starship Flight 7 test but loses upper stage (video, photos) Starship Die Cast Rocket Model Now $47.99 on Amazon. If you can't see SpaceX's Starship in person, you can score a model of your own. Standing at 13.77 inches (35 cm), this is a 1:375 ratio of SpaceX's Starship as a desktop model. The materials here are alloy steel and it weighs just Deal SpaceX traced the Flight 7 anomaly to "a harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing, which led to increased stress on hardware in the propulsion system," the company wrote in a Feb. 24 update. That stress caused propellant leaks, which in turn triggered "sustained fires." (The SpaceX-led investigation into the mishap is ongoing, but the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration recently gave the company permission to launch Flight 8 after completing a safety review.) SpaceX took steps to minimize the chances that the problem would recur on Flight 8. For example, it conducted an extra-long 60-second "static fire" test with Flight 8's Ship, a sustained trial that "informed hardware changes to the fuel feedlines to vacuum engines, adjustments to propellant temperatures, and a new operating thrust target," SpaceX wrote in last month's update. "Additional vents and a new purge system utilizing gaseous nitrogen are being added to the current generation of ships to make the area more robust to propellant leakage," the company added. RELATED STORIES: — Starship and Super Heavy explained — Will 2025 be the year of Starship? SpaceX's megarocket is growing up. — SpaceX likely to get FAA approval for 25 Starship launches in 2025 During operational missions, SpaceX plans to bring both Super Heavy and Ship back to Starbase for launch-tower catches. This strategy will reduce the time between launches for the fully reusable rocket, which SpaceX aims to fly multiple times per day. So, prior to today's launch, the company made some modifications to help facilitate a future Ship chopsticks catch. For example, SpaceX removed some heat-shield tiles from the Flight 8 upper stage to stress-test certain vulnerable areas. "Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry," SpaceX wrote in a Flight 8 mission description. "On the sides of the vehicle, non-structural versions of Starship's catch fittings are installed to test the fittings' thermal performance, along with a section of the tile line receiving a smoothed and tapered edge to address hot spots observed during reentry on Starship's sixth flight test." In addition, the company tested radar sensors on the Starbase launch tower during Flight 8, "with the goal of increasing the accuracy when measuring distances between the chopsticks and a returning vehicle." It's too soon to say what went wrong on Flight 8, so it's unclear what further changes SpaceX may make going forward. Related: Explosion of Starship Flight 7 traced to fires in rocket's 'attic,' SpaceX says SpaceX believes Starship's combination of immense power and full reusability will make Mars settlement — a long-held goal of company founder and CEO Elon Musk — economically feasible. The rocket flew in a fully stacked configuration for the first time in April 2023. It flew twice that year and four times in 2024. We should expect another boost in cadence this year, perhaps a dramatic one; SpaceX has requested approval for 25 Starship launches from Starbase in 2025.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Timeline of SpaceX Starship flight tests—and what happened
ORLANDO, Fla. - A series of test flights are being conducted for SpaceX's Starship – a next-generation spacecraft being developed for deep-space missions. On April 20, 2023 was the first flight test, and as of Thursday, eight test flights have been conducted. Timeline Here's a look at how each SpaceX test flight has resulted. SpaceX's eighth Starship test flight ended in failure after the rocket lost engines and control before exploding off Florida's coast. The incident has prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to order ground stops for multiple airports. The launch, which took place on March 6, initially succeeded in separating Starship from the Super Heavy booster. However, eight minutes into the flight, the spacecraft began losing altitude control. SpaceX engineers lost contact with the vehicle before the ascent phase was complete. Several minutes later, reports and footage from social media appeared to show the Starship exploding off Florida's Atlantic Coast, which SpaceX described as "a rapid unscheduled disassembly," and contact was lost. As a result of the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered ground stops for multiple airports, including Orlando International Airport (MC), Miami International Airport (MIA), Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), and Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL). Despite the failure, SpaceX's launch tower, known as Mechazilla, successfully caught the returning Super Heavy booster for the third time. The company will conduct a review before revealing the cause of the failure. SpaceX's Starship Flight 7, launched on Jan. 16, suffered a mid-flight failure, breaking apart over the Atlantic Ocean and scattering debris over the Turks and Caicos Islands. While the Super Heavy booster successfully landed, the Starship upper stage was unable to complete its planned satellite deployment and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX's investigation found that a harmonic response caused excessive stress on the propulsion system, leading to propellant leaks and sustained fires. "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," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on X. He added that future Starships will include fire suppression and increased venting to prevent similar failures. The FAA has cleared SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 8, which could lift off as early as Feb. 28, Reuters reported. SpaceX launched Starship Flight 6 from Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2024, marking another test for the world's most powerful rocket. While the Starship upper stage successfully reached space and simulated a landing in the Indian Ocean, its Super Heavy booster failed to return as planned, instead splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico–a sign that something went wrong. A live stream captured the booster exploding into a fireball after splashing down. SpaceX said the booster initially followed its descent path but "tripped a commit criteria," forcing a water landing. Engineers had also removed 2,100 heat shield tiles to test Starship's durability. Despite the setback, SpaceX called the mission a success, providing valuable data for future flights. On Oct. 13, 2024, SpaceX launched its 5th test flight. This was the very first (and successful) attempt to catch the returning booster with the launch tower's metal arms, which have been dubbed "chopsticks." "The tower has caught the rocket!!" Musk announced via X. "Big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today." The rest of the spacecraft made a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean, adding to the day's achievement. Starship's fourth flight test launched on June 6, 2024. The goal of this flight was to "go farther than any previous test before," according to the SpaceX website. The ship launched successfully from Starbase in Texas and returned to Earth without exploding. The three previous flight demos ended in explosions. This time, the rocket and the spacecraft managed to splash down in a controlled fashion, making the hourlong flight the longest and most successful yet. "Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!" Musk said via X at the time. The third integrated flight test of Starship Super Heavy roared to life from its tower in Boca Chica, Texas, in March 2024. Communication with both Starship and a system designed to track the craft was lost about an hour after liftoff, and the craft never returned to Earth. "We are making the call now that we have lost Ship 28," Dan Hout, a spokesperson for SpaceX, said during the live broadcast of the launch. The launch system, consisting of 39 Raptor engines, provided the necessary thrust to carry the spacecraft over the Gulf of Mexico. After igniting the Raptor engines, Super Heavy executed a flip maneuver while Starship entered a coast phase before reentry. The plan was for both Starship and the rocket that carried it to space to splash down in the Indian Ocean, but that never happened. "Obviously, there's a lot to go through," Hout said. "Everyone wants to know right off the bat what happened. It takes us a little bit of time, but I can assure you that as soon as we start finding things out, we're going to let everybody know." SpaceX launched its Starship rocket for its second test flight in Nov. 2023, but the booster exploded after separating and the spacecraft apparently detonated after reaching space. SpaceX officials said the mega rocket successfully lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas. The booster then successfully separated from the spacecraft before shortly experiencing a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" and exploding. "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," SpaceX wrote. The first test flight in April 2023 ended with an epic explosion 24 miles over the Gulf of Mexico when SpaceX launched Starship for the first time. The rocket took off from a launchpad in South Texas but exploded midair before stage separation. The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship. Thursday's launch still marked the vehicle's historic first test flight. "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation," SpaceX wrote on X. The Source The information for this story was provided by FOX35 Orlando, FOX Weather, The Associated Press, SpaceX's X account and website, This story was reported from Los Angeles.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Another SpaceX Starship lost during test flight despite successful booster catch
SpaceX lost contact again in its latest test flight of the Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Texas. The rocket was making its eighth attempt, and SpaceX was able to perform the third-ever catch of the booster back at the tower. The suborbital test flight came just under two months since the last attempt ended explosively over the Atlantic. The rocket lifted off just after 6:30 p.m. EST from SpaceX's Starbase launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. The flight profile once again called for the Super Heavy booster to fly back to the launch tower caught on the tower's pivoting arms called chopsticks. The upper stage Starship then was supposed to continue halfway around the planet to attempt a water landing in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia. But teams lost contact again over the Atlantic. 'Unfortunately it seems as we lost the attitude control of the ship,' said SpaceX commentator Kate Tice. Fellow commentator Dan Huot said telemetry showed engines going out with only about 20 seconds left in the upper stage's ascent burn. 'We did see the ship start to go into a spin and at this point we have lost contact with the ship,' he said. The failure follows a similar pattern seen during the Jan. 16 launch, which also saw a successful catch of the Super Heavy booster, but the Starship spacecraft blew up after passing over the Gulf of Mexico with scenes of the streaking debris posted to social media from places like the Turks & Caicos. The event grounded the in-development rocket, but the Federal Aviation Administration cleared it to launch again as of Feb. 26. 'After completing the required and comprehensive safety review, the FAA determined the SpaceX Starship vehicle can return to flight operations while the investigation into the Jan. 16 Starship Flight 7 mishap remains open,' the FAA stated. 'The FAA is overseeing the SpaceX-led investigation.' The flight continues progress for Elon Musk's heavy-lift rocket program. 'Several hardware and operational changes have been made to increase reliability of the upper stage,' SpaceX posted on its website. To support an increased pace of launches in the coming years, SpaceX continues to move forward with a second launch site in Texas and announced $1.8 billion in infrastructure to assist in launch sites from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It hopes to launch from the KSC site at Launch Complex 39-A before the end of the year. For this test launch, though, the objectives that were not reached during the last attempt are on tap again. That includes a test run of payload deployment and reentry experiments that the company hopes will lead to a future launch with the upper stage landing back at the Texas launch site. Four test payloads will simulate the size of SpaceX's Starlink satellites and follow the same trajectory of the upper Starship stage so they they burn up on reentry. 'Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable,' SpaceX posted. 'But by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we're able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle.' _____
