The world’s current most powerful rocket, SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft, has suffered another explosive setback, making it the second time the spacecraft has blown up this year, and the eighth test flight since its inception.
This most recent failure unfolded during the eighth test flight when Ship 34, the upper stage of Starship, encountered an unfortunate malfunction.
Minutes into the test flight, four of its six raptor engines shut down unexpectedly and prematurely, causing the spacecraft to lose altitude control. The launch vehicle began tumbling uncontrollably before exploding into a fireball that gradually broke apart with its descent, and with residents in Florida and Bahamas suffering a rain of debris.
Despite the upper stage’s failure, an unexpected success was the recovery of the Super Heavy booster. It was caught by the launch tower, making it the third successful catch in recent missions, which also signifies progress in reusable rocket technology.
Although several reports have suggested potential issues with the engine control systems and fuel delivery, SpaceX, albeit confirming the explosion, has yet to identify the exact cause.
SpaceX’s flagship spacecraft, Starship, is a fully reusable spacecraft designed by SpaceX to transport both crew and cargo to destinations like the Moon and Mars. As a goal championed by the founder, Elon Musk, SpaceX’s vision is to make humanity a multi-planetary species, carrying both crew and cargo to places like Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Standing nearly 400ft tall when paired with its Super Heavy Booster, Starship is engineered to be the most powerful launch vehicle ever built, where it is capable of delivering over 150 tons to orbit. Its versatility and reusability especially makes it a game changer. This is key to SpaceX’s mission in colonizing mars and a critical component for NASA’s Artemis III program.
However, this recent explosion is seen as a setback to these missions. Inasmuch as Musk calls it a “minor setback” in a post on X, two failures in the same year with only a month apart coupled with a pattern of engine troubles doesn’t exactly scream “minor.” But he has promised that “the next ship will be ready in 4 to 6 weeks.”
Due to the nature of these setbacks, the Federal Aviation Administration (FFA) has launched an investigation into the explosion, causing a delay of future tests until SpaceX identifies and fixes the recurrent problem.
It is crucial to note that as much as this is a setback to SpaceX’s mission of populating Mars by building human settlements, it is a bigger setback for NASA, a competitor in the 21st-century moon-to-mars race with China, who hired SpaceX’s starship to launch the Artemis III mission by 2027.
NASA’s Artemis III mission, slated for 2027, solely depends on Starship’s success. The spacecraft is set to serve as the lunar lander, moving astronauts from lunar orbit to the Moon’s south pole, a region rich in water ice and with scientific potential. While the agency has alternative options, Starship remains the centerpiece of its mission.
There is, however, a minute possibility of SpaceX not delivering an operational launch vehicle before 2027, thereby jeopardizing the whole mission.
