SpaceX is targeting this Friday, February 28, for the 8th test flight of Starship, the world’s most powerful launch vehicle. The upcoming launch from Starbase, Texas, follows the failure of Flight 7 on January 16, which ended with a successful booster catch, but a fiery explosion of Starship over the Caribbean.
The Flight 7 Failure: What Went Wrong?
In a blog post from SpaceX on Monday, the aerospace company has since determined that the failure was caused by a cascading sequence of events triggered by propellant leaks. About two minutes into its ascent, sensors detected a flash in the aft section of the vehicle near one of its Raptor vacuum engines. This initial anomaly led to a rapid pressure increase, indicating a propellant leak.
As the flight progressed, additional flashes were observed, and sustained fires broke out in the affected section. These fires ultimately caused a failure in the vehicle’s propulsion system, shutting down all but one of Starship’s engines. A resulting loss of communication triggered an automatic in-flight abort, leading to the disintegration of the upper stage over the Atlantic Ocean.
While debris fell within the planned debris response area near Turks and Caicos, images and reports from locals showed pieces washing up on shore, with at least one vehicle reportedly damaged by falling wreckage. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched a mishap investigation following the explosion, a standard procedure for such incidents.
The seventh flight test of Starship ended before reaching its ambitious goals. Lessons learned are being applied to future vehicles to make them more reliable. A technical summary of the investigation can be found here → https://t.co/bPVruJ0uY7 pic.twitter.com/9noR4rrs7W
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 24, 2025
SpaceX’s Response and Flight 8 Upgrades
In the wake of the failure, SpaceX engineers have implemented several design changes aimed at preventing similar issues in future flights. Key improvements include:
- Reinforced fuel lines to reduce the risk of leaks.
- Modifications to propellant temperature controls to ensure more stable flow.
- Additional venting systems and a new purge system to prevent pressure buildup in the aft section.
- Enhanced engine resilience to withstand higher levels of vibration and stress.
What to Expect from Flight 8
SpaceX has not yet disclosed full mission objectives for Flight 8, but it is expected to follow a similar profile to Flight 7. This includes another attempt at catching the Super Heavy booster using the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms—a maneuver that was successfully executed in two previous tests.
Starship Flight 8 flies Friday pic.twitter.com/CmOdg13e6K
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 24, 2025
Additionally, SpaceX will likely retry deploying a mock Starlink payload, which was planned for flight 7. There aren’t real Starlink satellites but designed to test deployment mechanisms and will burn up upon re-entry. The overall mission duration is expected to last just over an hour, with Starship aiming for a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
FAA Approval and Regulatory Hurdles
As with all test flights, SpaceX requires FAA clearance before proceeding. The agency has yet to officially close its investigation into the Flight 7 mishap, though SpaceX could be granted a special authorization to launch while the probe continues.
