Orbital Pad A, Starbase, Texas. Mission: Seventh fully integrated Starship test flight with Booster 14, Ship 33. Payload: 10 Starlink simulators. Stats: Seventh Starship launch, third Super Heavy recovery attempt. SpaceX successfully replicates its previous feat of capturing a booster that returned to Earth. But 8.5 minutes into the flight, the Starship spacecraft was lost. “Starship experienced an unscheduled rapid disassembly (RUD) during its ascent burn,” the company shared on X. For the first time, one of those 33 Raptor engines had previously been in space: SpaceX said it reused an engine recovered from the Super Heavy booster used during the company’s fifth test flight in October. Regarding the Starship leak, Elon Musk stated on X: “The preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship’s engine firewall that was large enough to create pressure exceeding the venting capacity,” Musk later added. “In addition to double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and likely increase the venting area. So far, nothing suggests delaying the next launch beyond next month.”
