In its second unsuccessful attempt to launch dummy satellites this year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX spacecraft was seen on camera exploding and plummeting down to Earth.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t SpaceX’s second lucky break this year. Yesterday, March 3, around 5:30 p.m. CT, only ten minutes after taking off from Starbase in Texas,
the Starship spaceship encountered issues, lost contact with ground control, and blew into pieces.
Later in the day, a report analyzing the test was published on SpaceX’s website.
The flight test was Starship’s second attempt to launch simulated satellites this year, but it was also the eighth test overall.
The Super Heavy booster “successfully lit its 33 Raptor engines and propelled Starship through a nominal first-stage ascent,” according to the explanation, and “about two and a half minutes into flight, the Super Heavy booster shut down all but three of its Raptor engines as planned for hot-staging separation.”
However, the Super Heavy booster’s ascension took a turn after it successfully relighted 11 of the 13 Raptor engines that were scheduled and executed a “boostback burn to return itself to the launch site.”
The report details: “Prior to the end of the ascent burn, an energetic event in the aft portion of Starship resulted in the loss of several Raptor engines. This in turn led to a loss of attitude control and ultimately a loss of communications with Starship.”
According to the study, “Final contact with Starship came approximately nine minutes and 30 seconds after liftoff.” This outcome also caused the spacecraft to undergo “a rapid unscheduled disassembly” and lose touch with ground control.
Flights from many Florida airports, including those in Miami and Orlando, were momentarily grounded as a result of the breakdown, according to the BBC.
Social media footage seems to show Bahamas residents observing the debris breaking apart in the skies above them, with some even stating they were seeking cover.
And the failure was captured by various social media users, one video shared to Twitter showing lit up debris flying back down to Earth, the caption reading: “If NASA had the failure rate SpaceX does, Elon Musk would be firing everyone and Congress would be demanding to know where the money is going.”
SpaceX’s Twitter page noted: “Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses.”
To protect the people on land, in the water, and in the air, the spacecraft ‘flew within a defined launch corridor,’ according to the site.
In order to execute pre-planned contingency procedures, SpaceX “immediately began coordination with the FAA, ATO (air traffic control), and other safety officials.”
“Any surviving debris would have fallen within the pre-planned Debris Response Area. There are no toxic materials present in the debris and no significant impacts expected to occur to marine species or water quality,” it added – should anyone identify any potential debris, they are asked to contact their local authorities.
SpaceX resolved: “We will review the data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship’s reliability.”
“With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship’s reliability. We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests.”
