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SpaceX: Starship self-destructed after fire on board
The seventh flight of the Starship ended with an explosion. The US space company SpaceX has announced the reason.
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Space News
There have been multiple reports and images of the reentry of a Falcon 9 rocket body over northern Germany early this morning.
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Prof Logsdon* expects big changes under #Trump, Mr #Musk and Mr #Isaacman: scrapping programmes, closing NASA centres and more contracting out to #SpaceX, #BlueOrigin and other private sector firms. "There is a delicate balance between the interests of #NASA, #Congress and the #WhiteHouse."
Mr Isaacman has called the #SLS "outrageously expensive" and said that the major aerospace contractors are "incentivised to be economically #inefficient". https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn93797z2dpo
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#SpaceX has developed two heavy lift rockets in the last decade, and #BlueOrigin just launched #NewGlenn. Each of these rockets is at least partially reusable ♻️ and flies at less than one-tenth 💵 the cost of the #SLS rocket 💰 https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/02/boeing-has-informed-its-employees-that-nasa-may-cancel-sls-contracts
📆 Thu Jan 16, 2025 23:00 CET ⌚ 23:00 CET https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nM3vGdanpw
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#SpaceX caught 🦾 the #SuperHeavy Booster, but seemed to lose communication with #Starship shortly after https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/01/16/elon-musks-spacex-test-launch-of-starship-takes-off-after-delay-heres-what-to-know/
📆 Thu Jan 16, 2025 : #NewGlenn 🚀 https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7628
📆 Thu Jan 16, 2025 : #Starship 🚀 https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7705
📆 Wed Jan 15, 2025 : #BlueGhost & #HAKUTORhttps://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/6794
📆 March, 2025 #GaganYaanhttps://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/1980
📆 May, 2025 #DreamChaserhttps://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/403
📆 Thu Jan 16, 2025 : #Starship 🚀 https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7705
📆 Wed Jan 15, 2025 : #BlueGhost & #HAKUTORhttps://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/6794
📆 March, 2025 #GaganYaanhttps://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/1980
📆 May, 2025 #DreamChaserhttps://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/403
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📆 Thu Jan 16, 2025 23:00 CET ⌚ 23:00 CET https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nM3vGdanpw
Musing out loud... since Starship 33 didn't finish its climb to orbit, or actually a very high suborbital trajectory since they didn't plan a burn to circularize the orbit, how far short did the debris come down. Southern Africa was underneath the intended path. It could have been one or more of falling short into the Atlantic Ocean, falling on Africa or going past Africa to the Indian Ocean. #SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace
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"Watch SpaceX Starship explode over Atlantic Ocean on Flight Test 7" by @Spacecom - It didn't take long to get an answer where Starship 33 debris came down. People posted videos from the Turks and Caicos Islands. So it made it past Florida to the Atlantic. Dramatic explosion and debris fall captured on several of them. https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/watch-spacex-starship-explode-over-atlantic-ocean-on-flight-test-7-videos#SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace
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"Videos on social media show Starship debris streaming across the sky" video by NBC News - NBC anchor and expert where being correctly cautious about concluding the video was of Starship. But they also pointed out the video of debris fall matched the time Starship telemetry was lost on ascent and where it should have been at the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0vRGkPsbYc#SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace
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"SpaceX loses Starship’s upper stage but catches booster" by @cosmiclog / @alanboyle - More expert observations of the SpaceX Starship launch failure, but successful booster recovery. https://cosmiclog.com/2025/01/16/spacex-loses-starships-upper-stage-but-catches-booster/#SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace
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"SpaceX Starship explosion likely caused by propellant leak, Elon Musk says" by @Spacecom - Fuel and oxidizer both leaking into a confined area would only need a flame or spark to explode. And "to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity" means it exploded. https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/spacex-starship-explosion-likely-caused-by-propellant-leak-elon-musk-says#SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace
"SpaceX loses spacecraft after catching rocket booster at the launch pad in latest Starship test" by @AssociatedPress / Marcia Dunn - More details on what SpaceX hoped to achieve and what happened on Starship test flight 7. https://apnews.com/article/spacex-elon-musk-starship-e165e81ed2350ce684c7ed8d9357d7ba#SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace #business
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Musing out loud... since Starship 33 didn't finish its climb to orbit, or actually a very high suborbital trajectory since they didn't plan a burn to circularize the orbit, how far short did the debris come down. Southern Africa was underneath the intended path. It could have been one or more of falling short into the Atlantic Ocean, falling on Africa or going past Africa to the Indian Ocean. #SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace
"SpaceX loses Starship mid-flight, but catches booster again after launch" by CNBC / @michaelsheetz - Second successful catch of the enormous 1st stage booster by the tower arms, which many doubted would work until the first catch. 2nd stage lost contact during boost, presumably breaking up, and did not reach orbit. The lost 2nd stage was a new Block 2 model flying for the first time. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/16/spacex-launch-starship-flight-seven-starlink-satellite-test.html#SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace #business
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"SpaceX loses spacecraft after catching rocket booster at the launch pad in latest Starship test" by @AssociatedPress / Marcia Dunn - More details on what SpaceX hoped to achieve and what happened on Starship test flight 7. https://apnews.com/article/spacex-elon-musk-starship-e165e81ed2350ce684c7ed8d9357d7ba#SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace #business
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"SpaceX loses Starship mid-flight, but catches booster again after launch" by CNBC / @michaelsheetz - Second successful catch of the enormous 1st stage booster by the tower arms, which many doubted would work until the first catch. 2nd stage lost contact during boost, presumably breaking up, and did not reach orbit. The lost 2nd stage was a new Block 2 model flying for the first time. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/16/spacex-launch-starship-flight-seven-starlink-satellite-test.html#SpaceX#Starship🚀 #NewSpace #business
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[STARSHIP IFT-7 THREAD 🧵]
Just under T-4 hours until Starship flies for IFT-7.
According to SpaceX, systems and weather look good!
This is the first of the V2 ships, so I'm personally looking forward to seeing how the new and more leeward front flaps perform during re-entry. Fingers crossed for less burn through!
📸: SpaceX
#space #spacex #starship #ift7#LaunchInformation #bocachica #texas #newspace #launch #rocket
Ship 33 will also be used to test the deployment of 10 payload dummies. These are similar weights and sizes to the upcoming next generation Starlink sats.
#space #spacex #starship #ift7#LaunchInformation #bocachica #texas #newspace #launch #rocket
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"A block of planned upgrades to the Starship upper stage will debut on this flight test, bringing major improvements to reliability and performance. The vehicle’s forward flaps have been reduced in size and shifted towards the vehicle tip and away from the heat shield, significantly reducing their exposure to reentry heating while simplifying the underlying mechanisms and protective tiling" -SpaceX
#space #spacex #starship #ift7#LaunchInformation #bocachica #texas #newspace #launch #rocket
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"Now targeting 4:37 p.m. CT for liftoff of Starship" - SpaceX
That's 22:37 UTC
#space #spacex #starship #ift7#LaunchInformation #bocachica #texas #newspace #launch #rocket
Ship 33: This is the first Block 2/v2 upper stage of Starship, it features various improvements over previous ships. The item to watch is the new forward fins. Many changes are internal and/or software so won't be visible.
Booster 14: A Block 1 booster. Notably, Raptor #314 (Pi engine) from the recovered booster from IFT-5 will be reused on this flight.
#space #spacex #starship #ift7#LaunchInformation #bocachica #texas #newspace #launch #rocket
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Ship 33 will also be used to test the deployment of 10 payload dummies. These are similar weights and sizes to the upcoming next generation Starlink sats.
#space #spacex #starship #ift7#LaunchInformation #bocachica #texas #newspace #launch #rocket
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Some good coverage that doesn't require using X:
[4K] Everyday Astronaut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Px_b5eSzsA
[1080p] Spaceflight Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yCG1T06jlk
[1080p] NSF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg
[1080p] WAI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NupMFUk0Og
[1080p] LapPadre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Bn5BrZix8
As usual, be aware that "official" streams from SpaceX on YT are fake. SpaceX no longer broadcast to YT directly. Please report them.
#space #spacex #starship #ift7#LaunchInformation #bocachica #texas #newspace #launch #rocket
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Ship 33: This is the first Block 2/v2 upper stage of Starship, it features various improvements over previous ships. The item to watch is the new forward fins. Many changes are internal and/or software so won't be visible.
Booster 14: A Block 1 booster. Notably, Raptor #314 (Pi engine) from the recovered booster from IFT-5 will be reused on this flight.
#space #spacex #starship #ift7#LaunchInformation #bocachica #texas #newspace #launch #rocket
