Elon Musk weighs in on SpaceX Starship’s ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk met with the company Thursday night to discuss the company's belief that a portion of the Starship rocket may have suffered an “unplanned rapid disintegration.” I explained what was going on.

The upper stage of a SpaceX Starship rocket exploded during a flight test conducted by the SpaceX space company late Thursday afternoon from its Starbase in Texas.

“Preliminary indications were that there was an oxygen and fuel leak in the cavity above the firewall of the marine engine, large enough to cause pressure to exceed vent capacity,” he wrote.

SpaceX said in a post on its website that the “unplanned rapid dismantling” occurred after the upper stage successfully separated from Starship's superheavy booster and began an “upburn” into space. Telemetry with the upper stage was lost “after approximately eight and a half minutes of flight,” the company said.

Starship loses its upper stage during its seventh test flight and debris is seen spewing into the sky

“Initial data indicates a fire occurred in the rear of the ship, leading to an unscheduled rapid dismantling,” SpaceX said.

A video of what appears to be debris from a Starship rocket being launched into the sky was posted on social media. Video showed debris leaving a red and white trail in the sky above the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“Aside from obviously double-checking for leaks, we plan to add fire extinguishing equipment to that volume and possibly increase the vent area,” Musk said on There is nothing to suggest that it will be postponed beyond next month.”

SpaceX said the tower arm successfully captured Starship's Super Heavy booster during a flight test.

Thursday's launch will be SpaceX's seventh Starship rocket launch in the past two years. In November, when SpaceX conducted its sixth test, President-elect Trump came to inspect it..

A visitor walks near the SpaceX Starship rocket launch site near Boca Chica, Texas, on January 14, 2025. (Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)

President Trump watches SpaceX Starship launch in Texas with Elon Musk

“As always, success will come from what we learn. This flight test will help improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary.” said SpaceX. “A review of the data is already underway to pursue the root cause. We will work with the FAA to conduct a thorough investigation and take corrective actions to improve future Starship flight tests.”

Pre-launch testing and preparations are already underway for SpaceX's planned eighth Starship flight test, the company said. Construction of the ship and booster for the mission has been completed.

Jeff Bezos' BLUE ORIGIN launches new rocket on first test flight

SpaceX's seventh Starship flight test took place on the same day that competitor Blue Origin, founded by Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos, conducted its first launch of its New Glenn rocket.

Blue Origin's launch took place at Cape Canaveral, Florida.