Footage appears to capture debris in the sky in the wake of SpaceX’s Starship rocket experiencing a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ during its Jan. 16 flight test. [Credit: Greg Munch /TMX]
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to X on Thursday night to explain what his company believes may have caused part of the Starship rocket to experience a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
The upper stage of the SpaceX Starship rocket exploded during a flight test his space company conducted late Thursday afternoon from its Starbase in Texas.
“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,” he wrote.
In a post on its website, SpaceX said the “rapid unscheduled disassembly” occurred after the upper stage successfully separated from Starship’s Super Heavy booster and started its “ascent burn” to space. It lost telemetry with the upper stage “after approximately eight and a half minutes of flight,” according to the company.
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“Initial data indicates a fire developed in the aft section of the ship, leading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” SpaceX said.
Footage seemingly showing debris from the Starship rocket in the sky was posted on social media. The video captured pieces leaving red and white trails in the sky overhead in Turks and Caicos.
Footage appears to capture debris in the sky in the wake of SpaceX’s Starship rocket experiencing a ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ during its Jan. 16 flight test. [Credit: Greg Munch /TMX]
“Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area,” Musk also said on X, adding that “nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building on January 24, 2023, in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
SpaceX said tower arms successfully caught Starship’s Super Heavy booster during the flight test.
Thursday’s launch marked the seventh that SpaceX has conducted for its Starship rocket in the past roughly two years. In November, when SpaceX operated its sixth test, President-elect Trump came to watch.
A visitor walks near the launch site of the SpaceX Starship rocket on January 14, 2025, near Boca Chica, Texas. (Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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“As always, success comes from what we learn, and this flight test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary,” SpaceX said. “Data review is already underway as we seek out root cause. We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests.”
Prelaunch testing and preparations are already underway for SpaceX’s planned eighth flight test of Starship, the company said. Construction of the ship and booster for that mission has been done.
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SpaceX’s seventh Starship flight test came the same day that competitor Blue Origin, founded by Amazon executive chair Jeff Bezos, got the first launch of its New Glenn rocket under its belt.
The Blue Origin launch took place in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
