SpaceX’s Starship was lost today over the Caribbean on the company’s 7th flight test. The rocket itself performed great, and even landed successfully back at its launch site in south Texas. However, the prototype spacecraft itself suffered an unknown fatal anamoly shortly after separation from the booster.
Photos and videos circulating on social media show dramatic scenes of fireball debris raining down Turks and Caicos.
Spacecraft had numerous upgrades over previous versions
Today’s incident is what flight tests are for. The vehicle incorporated numerous upgrades over the previous 6 vehicles. Its forward flaps were reduced in size and shifted towards the vehicle tip and away from the heat shield. Doing so significantly reduces their exposure to reentry heating while simplifying the underlying mechanisms and protective tiling, according to SpaceX.
“Redesigns to the propulsion system, including a 25% increase in propellant volume, the vacuum jacketing of feedlines, a new fuel feedline system for the vehicle’s Raptor vacuum engines, and an improved propulsion avionics module controlling vehicle valves and reading sensors, all add additional vehicle performance and the ability to fly longer missions,” says SpaceX.
2025 will be a transformational year for Starship development
Elon Musk’s company is developing Starship to be a fully reusable rocket and crewed spacecraft to send crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. The booster is the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.
“This new year will be transformational for Starship,” added SpaceX. “Our goal is bringing reuse of the entire system online and flying increasingly ambitious missions as we iterate towards being able to send humans and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon and Mars.”
