SpaceX has figured out why Starship exploded on its last flight and promised not to do it again

As is known, the seventh test launch of the reusable rocket complex Starship ended with the ship exploding almost immediately after its separation from the booster stage. The spectacular explosion and rain of burning debris in the sky amazed tourists and FAA officials, who quickly rerouted a number of civil aviation flights and began an investigation into the incident. SpaceX believes that they have figured out the causes of the accident.

Image source: Spacex

A debriefing revealed that the explosion during the seventh test flight of the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster on January 16, 2025, was caused by a fire in the aft section of Starship, located between the bottom of the liquid oxygen tank and the rear heat shield. This situation caused “all but one of Starship’s thrusters to perform a controlled shutdown sequence,” which resulted in a loss of communications and ultimately triggered the spacecraft’s safety system, causing it to self-destruct.

The most likely cause of the fire was a breach in the integrity of the fuel line. It was destroyed by vibrations during launch that exceeded the calculated values. SpaceX engineers changed the least reliable contours and provided ventilation holes in the rear of the ship to purge its interior with nitrogen in the event of a fuel or oxidizer leak.

How effective these changes will be will be shown by the next test launch, the eighth in a row. The window for Starship’s launch opened yesterday. The attempt is expected to be made no later than February 28. If successful, the company will try to capture the ship with mechanisms at the spaceport – the “chopsticks” of the huge “Mechazilla” structure.