SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded just minutes into its seventh test flight. However, the top section of the rocket was lost, SpaceX succeeded in another complicated maneuver, bringing the spacecraft’s Super Heavy lower portion back down to Earth and catching it in midair using giant mechanical arms. Explaining the failure, Elon Musk shares on 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. 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.
E-Paper
