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After SpaceX's surprising loss of the upper-stage Starship spacecraft during Flight 7 yesterday, Elon Musk has shared additional details about the potential reason behind the failure. SpaceX's official release for the mishap noted that the anomaly led to a rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD) of the ship, which is another term for the vehicle breaking up during the mission. It ascribed the RUD to a fire in the rocket's lower section, and according to Musk, the fire was due to a leak in the region of the rocket that separates its engines from the rest of the vehicle.
Elon Musk Confident Starship Flight 8 Won't Be Delayed Beyond February
Fresh details after the Starship Flight 7 mishap indicate that the FAA had to temporarily divert aircraft in the region the upper stage ship exploded. So far, the FAA has not directly confirmed whether any Starship debris fell outside of designated hazard area. This area is cleared of any aircraft ahead of launch to ensure there are no accidents in case of a flight anomaly.
SpaceX's official release, posted hours after the explosion, noted that "Starship flew within its designated launch corridor" and added that "Any surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area." Soon after the anomaly, the FAA issued a temporary airman notice that warned aircraft of "DANGEROUS AREA FOR FALLING DEBRIS OF ROCKET STARSHIP FLT-7."
A statement from the FAA was given to reporters, sharing the actions that the agency took after the mishap. In its statement, the FAA noted that it "briefly slowed and diverted aircraft around the area where space vehicle debris was falling." Statements from the regulator and SpaceX leave it unclear whether any debris fell outside the designated area.
After his first comments following Flight 7 shared that entertainment was nearly always guaranteed during the tests, Musk took to X again to reveal the reasons behind the Starship's failure. According to him, "Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity."
An engine firewall is a region in the lower portion of the Starship rocket which protects its tanks and other internal equipment from the heat and fire generated by the six Raptor engines. Fires in the engine bay, which is the rocket's region where its engines are located, have been common throughout the test program.
Musk's statements indicate that the leak was not in the firewall, but the rocket was unable to relieve the pressure buildup from it. When combined with SpaceX's official statement confirming that "a fire developed in the aft section of the ship," it is reasonable to conclude that over-pressurization in the rocket coupled with the engine's heat led to the Starship explosion.
The rocket that exploded was an upgrade over its predecessors that flew on previous flights. It had larger tanks for greater fuel capacity, and it is uncertain whether the added capacity led to higher propellant pressurization, which resulted in the leak mentioned by Musk.
As for the fix, he added that "Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area." However, Musk's optimism behind "Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month" might turn out to be incorrect if the FAA requires SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation for Starship Flight 7.
