It was a short flight.

Following a clean separation from Starship, the Super Heavy booster guided itself back towards Starbase, executing a controlled descent and gradually positioning itself to be caught by Mechazilla, the orbital launch tower’s chopstick arms.

This marked the second successful recovery of a massive Super Heavy booster to the launch pad. However, the mission took an unexpected turn 8.5 minutes into the flight when SpaceX lost all communications and telemetry from the Starship. The spacecraft had undergone “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly.”

“The 9 meter diameter version of Starship will probably fly ~10,000 times, so this is barely a bump in the road,” said Elon Musk in the aftermath of Starship's loss.

Brilliant streaks lit up the skies over the British territories of Turks and Caicos Islands as the Starship debris fell across the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in a spectacular sky show witnessed by locals and airline passengers. While visually striking, it caused numerous deviations for the aircraft flying around the area.

SpaceX said in a statement that a propellant leak had triggered a fire in Starship's aft section, ultimately leading to the vehicle's destruction. Before the final moment, flames were seen around one of the hinges of the Starship’s flap.

“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,” said Elon regarding the cause of Starship’s RUD.

The seventh Starship test flight, and first of 2025, set out to validate extensive modifications to the launch system. Its v2 variant stands 2 meters (6.6 feet) taller than its predecessor, increasing propellant capacity by 25 tons. Its redesigned forward flaps were reduced in size and shifted away from the heat shield, minimizing reentry heat exposure. The ship’s thermal protection system incorporates the latest iteration of the company’s advanced ceramic-based tiles, backed up with a secondary layer to safeguard against tile damage or loss. This test flight also aimed to test new experimental tiles, including ones equipped with an active cooling system that circulates cool propellant through internal channels to manage extreme temperatures during reentry.

Significant upgrades to the propulsion system introduced vacuum-jacketed feedlines for cryogenic propellant – where propellant pipes are encased within outer pipes with a vacuum barrier between them, creating superior insulation. Other improvements included new fueling systems for the Raptor engines and an enhanced propulsion avionics module that manages onboard valve operations based on sensor inputs. The ship's avionics received a comprehensive overhaul with a more powerful flight computer and integrated antenna systems that combine Starlink, navigation, and backup communications into a single unit.

The upgrade extended to redesigned inertial navigation and star tracking sensors, enhanced power systems, and an expanded network of over 30 vehicle cameras providing engineers with detailed insight into hardware performance throughout the flight.

This flight also aimed to test the Pez dispenser-style system for future Starlink satellites. Dummy satellites were loaded in the Ship's cargo bay for deployment testing. Like Starship itself, these payloads were meant to follow the vehicle's trajectory back into Earth's atmosphere rather than achieve stable orbit.

Despite the flight being cut short, Elon remained optimistic, posting on X, “The booster flight was a success, the ship flight was 1/4 successful, hence cup being ~5/8 full. New ship forward flaps, higher thrust engines, and tile adherence on ascent were tested. Improved heat shield performance was the only major thing that wasn’t tested, along with the “Pez” payload dispenser.”

SpaceX has already begun working on the fixes based on the preliminary failure analysis, with Elon indicating a potential return to flight by next month, saying “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.”

SpaceX might be able to achieve technical readiness by February but regulatory approvals could extend the timeline further. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — the agency in charge of certifying every rocket launch from the United States — has mandated a mishap investigation into Starship’s anomaly. Led by SpaceX, this investigation will formally determine the cause of failure and identify corrective actions, including a definitive assessment of whether Starship's debris breached the designated hazard zones.

The situation became particularly complex when debris entered commercial airspace, prompting the FAA to activate a Debris Response Area, forcing aircrafts to either slow down outside the affected zone or remain grounded at their departure points, with several of them diverting due to low fuel levels while holding outside the impacted areas. The activation of this emergency protocol implied that the debris was falling outside of the demarcated hazard zone – as the FAA later clarified in their statement, “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.”

SpaceX, however, maintains a different position. In their statement, the company asserted, '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.”

Before Starship can proceed with Flight 8, the FAA must approve Flight 7's mishap report and verify that any system, process, or procedure related to this incident poses no risk to public safety. Both technical and regulatory corrective measures will need to be implemented before Starship can return to flight.

While Flight 7's outcome might appear as a setback, its iterative development approach means that occasional failures are not just expected, but accepted as valuable learning opportunities. Each Starship launch has been unique, featuring different test objectives and configurations. As Musk explained, 'This is a test program, we expect it [Starship] to explode. It's weird if it doesn't explode, frankly, because we're trying to develop advanced rockets at a high speed. If you want to get payload to orbit, you have to run things close to the edge.'"

"The ship and booster for Starship’s eighth flight test are built and going through prelaunch testing and preparing to fly," said SpaceX in a statement on their website.