SpaceX Starship mission faces setback as spacecraft crashes after launch VIDEO

The seventh test launch of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft with its Super Heavy launch vehicle, designed for manned missions to the Moon, ended in failure.

The rocket was launched from the Starbase spaceport in Texas on the night of January 17.

Shortly after takeoff, SpaceX reported a “rapid unscheduled destruction” of the spacecraft, per Caliber.Az.

Super Heavy will generate a sonic boom upon return, which is a brief, thunder-like noise we hear when an aircraft or other object travels faster than the speed of sound pic.twitter.com/tpQ5hBEsKP

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2025

Despite the failure, the launch vehicle, the Super Heavy booster, successfully returned to the launch pad at the Mechazilla complex. The massive tower, equipped with a mechanized arm to catch the booster, successfully landed the vehicle, marking a significant achievement for the company.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk confirmed that the crash was caused by a fuel leak in the spacecraft. “Preliminary reports indicate that there was an oxygen or fuel leak in the cavity above the engine fire baffle,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Musk also stated that this setback would not likely delay the next test launch.

The seventh test flight had a more ambitious mission compared to previous launches. SpaceX aimed to send the Starship prototype into Earth’s orbit with significant design improvements and planned to deploy 10 simulated Starlink satellites. However, during altitude gain, the spacecraft experienced a “rapid unplanned destruction.”

Although the spacecraft was lost, SpaceX successfully captured the Super Heavy booster upon its return, a key improvement over previous attempts. In earlier tests, the booster had descended from an altitude of about 100 kilometres and crash-landed in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Starship system is designed to be highly versatile, capable of carrying out manned missions to Earth orbit, launching satellites, and conducting missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The reusable Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft are designed to land vertically on Earth. The complete space system, standing at a height of 121 meters (with the Starship measuring 50 meters and the booster 71 meters), has a diameter of 9 meters and a payload capacity of 100-150 tonnes.

By Tamilla Hasanova