SpaceX's Starship Rocket Explodes Within Minutes Of Seventh Test Flight, Elon Musk Suspects Oxygen/Fuel Leak

The Starship rocket from SpaceX suffered an unexpected failure when it exploded merely minutes into its seventh trial flight, marking a surprising reversal of fortunes for the company led by Elon Musk, which had been consistently making headway in enhancing the rocket's capabilities.

The accident necessitated a change in the flight paths of airlines over the Gulf of Mexico to prevent any encounters with plummeting debris, Hindustan Times reported. Furthermore, it represented a significant hindrance to Elon Musk's premier rocket initiative.

8 minutes post-launch from its South Texas rocket facilities at 5:38 pm EST (2238 GMT), SpaceX's mission control lost communication with the recently enhanced Starship. The Starship, which was uncrewed, was on its maiden test flight carrying mock satellites as its payload.

Preliminary findings hint at an oxygen leak as the cause of the Starship rocket's disintegration, but SpaceX will conduct a thorough investigation to confirm the exact reason for the mishap. Elon Musk, the CEO of the company, disseminated the update via a post on his social media platform X.

“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 the post.

“Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month,” he added

The previous instance of a Starship upper stage failure occurred in March of the previous year during its reentry into Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

This marked the seventh Starship test by SpaceX since 2023, as part of Musk's multibillion-dollar project. The goal is to construct a rocket that can transport both humans and cargo to Mars and also deploy significant groups of satellites into Earth's orbit.

SpaceX's method of testing until failure has historically involved dramatic failures as the company stretches the engineering boundaries of Starship prototypes. However, the test failure on Thursday occurred during a mission stage that SpaceX has successfully navigated in the past.

The formidable Falcon Super Heavy booster, in the meantime, made its way back to the launchpad approximately seven minutes post-launch, as scheduled. It decelerated its return from space by reactivating its Raptor engines, securing itself onto enormous mechanical arms attached to a launch tower.