It was the afternoon in the USA when SpaceX conducted a new flight test of its Super Heavy rocket and Starship prototypes, launched from its base in Boca Chica, Texas. This is the 7th test involving the entire system of Elon Musk’s company which is supposed to revolutionize space travel with an unprecedented transport capacity and being totally reusable. They are advanced prototypes with the Super Heavy identified as Booster 14 and the Starship Block 2 identified as Starship 33 or Ship33 or simply S33.
Starship 33 was the first in the Block 2 version, larger than the first version because the liquid methane and oxygen tanks are larger. SpaceX also applied several differences to the flaps, avionics, heat shield, and other components. After the good results of the sixth test conducted on November 19, 2024, the plan to test the resistance of Starship by pushing it to its limits to see how much it can withstand stress, especially during the landing phase was supposed to continue with Block 2.
A novelty in the profile of this test consisted in the launch of Starlink satellite simulators that should resemble the version designed specifically to be launched with Starship. SpaceX is using Starlink satellite launches to see how many launches a Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage can conduct and they will probably be the first payloads in Starship launches.
Booster 14 was of the same type as the previous ones but for the first time, one of the engines was used. That’s because Booster 12 used for the fifth test conducted on October 13, 2024, is the one that landed correctly and consequently it was possible to recover one of its engines. This was an important test to understand if the Raptor engines are ready to be reused.
The positive part of this test was that of Booster 14, which regularly returned to the base to be captured by the structure called Mechazilla. There are many criteria that must be met to allow the capture attempt, and its new success in this test confirms the progress of the Super Heavy rocket.
When the Starship was climbing to 146 kilometers of altitude, something happened. About 8 minutes after takeoff, the Starship’s Raptor engines started shutting down until only one engine was on, but at that point, it was the last telemetry data. Communications with Starship 33 got lost and at the company’s mission control center, they tried to understand whether the problem was in the communications or the prototype got lost.
Only minutes after the possible loss of Starship 33 was announced, videos of debris burning up and falling like shooting stars started appearing online. Footage was also shared showing an explosion in the sky and debris falling. Initial assessments point to possible damage near a wing as the cause of a subsequent loss of fuel, but data analysis by SpaceX engineers will be needed to understand exactly what happened.
The unfortunate end of Starship 33 also caused an alarm at some airports, although it didn’t last long. An investigation by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) will inevitably be necessary to evaluate the precautions taken by SpaceX to prevent debris from falling on populated areas.
The media tends to exaggerate the judgments on these tests, which in any case involve prototypes, but the result of the 7th test is truly two-sided, with an excellent result for the Super Heavy Booster 14 and a setback for Starship. Block 2 brought many changes but more was expected and now it remains to be seen when SpaceX will be able to conduct the next test to evaluate this new version of Starship.
