The seventh test flight for SpaceX’s Starship ended up in a failed but ‘entertaining’ way, as it exploded into a million pieces that reentered the atmosphere over the Caribbean, burning in a sad but beautiful lightshow.
Videos taken from the West Indian islands of Turks and Caicos show glowing streaks of burning Starship debris blazing across the evening sky.
Futurism reported:
“SpaceX called the event a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’, a tongue-in-cheek term denoting a rocket explosion, ‘during its ascent burn’, in a statement posted to X.
‘Teams will continue to review data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause’, the company wrote. ‘With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability’.”
Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!
pic.twitter.com/nn3PiP8XwG— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
The Starship debris raining from space was deemed at once scary and beautiful.
“The company’s seventh test flight initially appeared to have gone smoothly, with Starship’s Super Heavy booster being caught by SpaceX’s ‘chopsticks’ arms-equipped tower.
‘Lots to learn for SpaceX from these Starship disintegration videos, unfortunately’, former Canadian astronaut legend Chris Hadfield tweeted.”
The most incredible footage from today’s Starship flight. pic.twitter.com/I63YOjJccP
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) January 17, 2025
Watch: Starship breaking up and re-entering over Turks and Caicos.
Starship breaking up and re-entering over Turks and Caicos pic.twitter.com/P0JqZYmmod
— Jenny Hautmann (@JennyHPhoto) January 16, 2025
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.
Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 17, 2025
Watch: Starship exploding captured on an airplane.
Starship exploding captured on an airplane pic.twitter.com/Y5maQrfmPG
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) January 17, 2025
Congrats to @SpaceX on Starship’s seventh test flight and the second successful booster catch.
Spaceflight is not easy. It’s anything but routine. That’s why these tests are so important—each one bringing us closer on our path to the Moon and onward to Mars through #Artemis.
— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) January 17, 2025
Watch: Super Heavy Booster returns to Earth and is caught by the ‘chopsticks’ in the towers.
I slowed down today’s @SpaceX booster catch, zoomed in a little, added some badass music, and a few other touches. Wow, those Raptor engines look beautiful! pic.twitter.com/8sNYpyZR9A
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 17, 2025
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