SpaceX captures the Starship’s power again, throws the spacecraft into an ‘anomaly’ in space

SpaceX held the Starship Rocket’s Super Heavy booster for the second time, after launching the upper part into space on Thursday during its seventh test flight. After successfully touching down, SpaceX representatives reported that the spacecraft was lost after the company lost contact about eight and a half minutes into the flight.

The ship successfully separated from the booster and started its rocket engines to climb into orbit before it appeared that some of the engines had failed. The company noticed that its communication with the telemetry coming out of the ship was losing, and a few minutes later SpaceX confirmed that the ship had experienced a “surface” problem at the end of its ascent into space.

After the live stream ended, SpaceX wrote on X that the Starship had “disrupted rapidly during its burn” and said it was still working to understand the cause.

Immediately after the crash, social media users shared photos and videos of what appeared to be pieces of the plane burning as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in Turks and Caicos. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared one of the videos on Xhe writes: “Success is not guaranteed, but entertainment is!”

It also appears that several planes were diverted from the area at the same time the debris was spotted, according to data from Flightradar24. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to TechCrunch that it is “aware of a problem that occurred during SpaceX Starship Flight 7 that launched from Boca Chica, Texas, on January 16,” and that it is “reviewing the operation and will issue a decision.” new.”

The company released the first “control” – which includes the familiar equipment on the launch tower and removes the rocket from space while using rocks to slow down its descent – in October 2024. A second attempt to hold the stimulus in November was aborted due to communication problem.

This release was much closer than the other fish, however. SpaceX has loaded Starship with 10 dummy Starlink satellites and is preparing to test its first payload with the spacecraft. The test was supposed to be the start of a “transformational” year for Starship, SpaceX said on its website.

The spaceship SpaceX launched on Thursday was upgraded in several ways compared to previous test flights. SpaceX said the Starship’s avionics had a “complete overhaul,” with a more powerful flight computer and integrated antennas for Starlink, GNSS, and RF communications functions.

The spacecraft is also equipped with inertial navigation and star tracking sensors, as well as “intelligent batteries and power units” that SpaceX said distributed data and 2.7MW of power to the spacecraft. The modified Starship was also equipped with more than 30 cameras so that the company’s engineers could monitor the condition of the new equipment and the existing ones.

SpaceX is working to get Starship together with a booster, and this flight is supposed to be an opportunity to test the technologies that will make it possible. The company installed different thermal tires on the ship, testing which ones provide better protection against re-entry forces. The ship also had “unchanged” steel bars held by the platform, to see how they could be used for re-entry.

On the promotion side of things, SpaceX outfitted the launch pad with radar sensors to locate the launch pad while in operation. The booster also used one of the rocket engines from previous Starship missions for the first time.

This article has been updated with additional information from SpaceX, Elon Musk, and comments from the FAA.