SpaceX Starship’s Explosion Caused By Leaking Fuel

The Verge reports:

Falling debris from the SpaceX Starship explosion yesterday created what looked like a meteor shower, or a colorful fireworks show based on videos shared by people in the area, but it also delayed flights.

Eight and a half minutes after launch yesterday, the upper stage of the SpaceX Starship “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” following the separation from its booster and the start of its ascent to space.

The footage of the explosion’s aftermath was shared to social media and Reddit. Some of it was recorded inside planes flying nearby, and many flights were diverted around the debris field, or delayed until all the fragments touched down.

Space.com reports:

The explosion that destroyed the upper stage of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle yesterday (Jan. 16) was likely caused by a leak, Elon Musk said.

Starship launched yesterday afternoon from SpaceX’s Starbase site in South Texas, kicking of the seventh flight test of the 403-foot-tall (123 meters) megarocket.

Things went well initially. The vehicle’s two stages — the Super Heavy booster and Ship upper-stage spacecraft — separated on time, and Super Heavy returned to Starbase as planned, where it was caught by the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms.

Everything made by Musk explodes.