January 17, 2025
2 minimum read
Elon Musk says SpaceX spacecraft explosion was likely caused by propellant leak
SpaceX’s Starship’s seventh test flight ended with a successful landing of the rocket’s first stage, but also the loss of the Starship vehicle.
On January 16, 2025, two stages of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket separated during its seventh test flight. The upper stage was lost after about 6 minutes.
The explosion that destroyed the upper stage of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle yesterday (January 16) was likely caused by a leak, Elon Musk said.
Yesterday afternoon, Starship lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase site in South Texas, beginning the 403-foot-tall (123-meter) mega-rocket’s seventh test flight.
It worked fine at first. The vehicle’s two stages (the Super Heavy booster and the ship’s upper spacecraft) separated in time, and the Super Heavy returned to the starbase as planned, where it was captured by the launch tower’s “chopstick” arm.
About supporting science journalism
If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism. Currently subscribing. By subscribing, you help ensure future generations of influential stories about the discoveries and ideas that shape the world today.
But shortly after Partners’ big moment, Shipp ran into a problem. The 171-foot-tall (52-meter) spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean about eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, witnessing a sky show for observers in the Turks and Caicos Islands and other nearby areas.
SpaceX is in the early stages of investigating the anomaly, but has identified a possible cause, said Musk, the company’s founder and CEO.
“Preliminary indications are that there was an oxygen and fuel leak in the cavity above the firewall of the marine engine. It was large enough to build up pressure beyond the capacity of the vent. There was an obvious leak. “Apart from double-checking, we’re going to add firefighting to that.”There’s nothing right now to suggest that the next launch will be after next month,” Musk said. He spoke on his social media platform X half an hour later. (Starship’s Raptor engines are powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane.)
As indicated later in that post, SpaceX plans to fly Starship frequently in 2025. The company has applied for permission to launch megarockets from Starbase up to 25 times this year.
That pressure overload apparently “caused a fire in the rear of the ship, leading to an unscheduled rapid dismantling,” SpaceX wrote in a blog post about Flight 7 yesterday evening, basing this interpretation on early data analysis. He emphasized that (“Unscheduled rapid disintegration” is the technical term for a spacecraft explosion.)
“We will work with the FAA to conduct a thorough investigation and take corrective actions to improve future Starship flight tests,” the company added, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Starship flew within its designated launch corridor, as all U.S. launches do to protect the public both on the ground, on the water, and in the air,” SpaceX continued in a blog post. “Remaining debris may have fallen into designated hazard areas.”
Still, the anomaly had implications beyond SpaceX. “The FAA temporarily slowed and redirected the aircraft around the area where spacecraft debris had fallen,” agency officials told Space.com via email yesterday afternoon, and shortly afterward. It said normal aircraft operations have resumed.
Copyright 2025 space dot comthe company of the future. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
