posted 01-09-2025 12:37 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...If something were to go wrong with Super Heavy, then Starship has the ability to fire its engines and pull away from its booster and fly back to a soft water landing...

---

posted 01-09-2025 06:42 PM               

There is no point in developing launch abort capability for a crewed design that may change several times before a suitable design is locked because they may just be doing more work for themselves than need be. The next Starship launch will see a lot of design changes from the previous iteration that will need to be evaluated. I don’t think that they have flown two of the same design yet.

The requirements of a crew system are well known, there are numerous standards that the FAA and any other interested parties will require to be built into the system as the design develops.

For the moon landing system SpaceX wants to develop, no launch from Earth escape system needs to be developed because it won't be launching crew. For a lunar launch, a design with a slightly better crew escape system than the Apollo design, i.e. none, should suffice, however, NASA and other interested parties will probably want some type of system unless they can sell a loss of crew during the lunar launch as an acceptable risk.

posted 01-16-2025 04:19 PM               

The engine number is 314, hence the slice of pi(e).

posted 01-16-2025 05:04 PM               

At this point, we are assuming that the ship has been lost.

posted 01-16-2025 08:54 PM               

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.

Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month.

posted 01-17-2025 07:43 PM               

Starship flew within its designated launch corridor – as all U.S. launches do to safeguard the public both on the ground, on water and in the air. Any surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area.

If you believe you have identified a piece of debris, please do not attempt to handle or retrieve the debris directly. Instead, please contact your local authorities or the SpaceX Debris Hotline at 1-866-623-0234 or at recovery@spacex.com.

FAA Statement on SpaceX Starship Flight 7 Mishap

The FAA is requiring SpaceX to perform a mishap investigation into the loss of the Starship vehicle during launch operations on Jan. 16. There are no reports of public injury, and the FAA is working with SpaceX and appropriate authorities to confirm reports of public property damage on Turks and Caicos.

During the event, the FAA activated a Debris Response Area and briefly slowed aircraft outside the area where space vehicle debris was falling or stopped aircraft at their departure location. Several aircraft requested to divert due to low fuel levels while holding outside impacted areas.

Background 

A mishap investigation is designed to enhance public safety, determine the root cause of the event, and identify corrective actions to avoid it from happening again. The FAA will be involved in every step of the SpaceX-led mishap investigation process and must approve SpaceX's final report, including any corrective actions. A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety.

A Debris Response Area is activated only if the space vehicle experiences an anomaly with debris falling outside of the identified closed aircraft hazard areas. It allows the FAA to direct aircraft to exit the area and prevent others from entering.