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It was a forward-looking, backward-looking day for SpaceX. Mechazilla’s tower also held the upcoming Starship expansion in surprise, but the top stage was lost due to problems during the ride.
The star took off from the Boca Chica launch pad at 5:37 pm ET, soaring into a clear Texas sky. The 403-foot-tall (123-meter) rocket launched a hot trajectory and engine burnout for three minutes. The booster began to descend back to Earth, while the upper part continued its journey into space.
Flight attendants gave the chance to make a strong hold, as the Super Heavy returned to the launch pad about seven minutes into the mission. “Mechazilla” the opening platform, with its arms like a stick, perfectly handled the incoming stimulus. This is the second time that SpaceX has held a promotion (it said on the first time on October 13, 2024 during Starship’s fifth test flight), reaffirming the idea of a fusion platform and giving a big vote of confidence that Starship will eventually become a launch vehicle.
Mechazilla has captured the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/aq91TloYzY
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2025
Although motivation was successful in his career, the same cannot be said for the top division. An unexplained malfunction caused the vehicle to lose its lift, preventing SpaceX from meeting several key mission goals, including the delivery of Starlink satellites. The starship failed 12 minutes early, with its last telemetry showing a speed of 13,246 miles per hour (21,317 kilometers per hour) and a range of 91 miles (146 kilometers).
The space station used for this mission – the seventh Starship test – had an upgraded design. It is the first high-profile failure since the early days of the Starship test program. The advanced location, and its design, means that SpaceX deals with a new type of vehicle, with systems that communicate with each other for the first time. According to a SpaceX broadcast, “several engines went down” before contact with the vehicle, which appears to have exploded.
SpaceX will reveal the reason for the failure in the coming days or weeks, but not to mention, the company will learn from it. This is what SpaceX does—seeing failure as a stepping stone to success.
“The stars quickly disappeared as they caught fire. The teams will continue to analyze the data tested today to understand the cause,” the company explained in a tweet. “With tests like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve Starship reliability.”
Unconfirmed images showed the upper part falling to Earth in pieces, leaving bright, visible streaks.
RUD of the century tbh. pic.twitter.com/XCbFxtO2wE
— A. Pettit (@PettitFrontier) January 16, 2025
SpaceX is making steady progress in turning Starship into a fully operational launch vehicle, getting closer with each test flight. Once operational, the rocket is expected to revolutionize access to space, launching large constellations of Starlink satellites along with customer payloads. Its large payload capacity and lift capacity can also enable the production and delivery of aircraft that were previously inaccessible due to size and complexity; With the help of 33 Raptor engines, the Starship should be able to deliver 150 metric tons to low Earth orbit.
NASA, which has invested in Starship as part of its Artemis program, plans to use the advanced rocket as a means of reaching humans on future missions to the Moon. And, of course, the CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk has even bigger ambitions – he sees Starship as the key to colonizing Mars and transforming humanity into many types of planets.
