SpaceX's Starship Rocket Explodes Within Minutes Of Seventh Test Flight, Elon Musk Suspects Oxygen/Fuel Leak

A SpaceX Starship rocket descended from orbit just minutes into its seventh test flight, and was about to fail, in an unlikely turnaround for the Musk-led company that had been steadily improving the rocket’s capability.

The crash required that airlines alter their flights over the Gulf of Mexico in order to avoid colliding with falling debris, Hindustan Times reported. It also was a major bottleneck for Elon Musk’s first rocket program.

SpaceX mission control disconnected the new and improved Starship 8 minutes after it launched from its rocket factories in South Texas at 5:38pm EST (2238 GMT). The unscrewed Starship was completing its first test flight with simulated satellites on board.

Starship has been told the rocket crashed because of an oxygen leak, but SpaceX will complete an investigation to find out for sure. CEO Elon Musk of the company announced the announcement on his X social media page.

"Assumption is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the compartment upstream of the ship engine firewall large enough to create pressure well beyond vent capacity," he posted.

While this is a major roadblock to the company’s space programme, Musk still expects a launch soon. He also detailed what SpaceX will do to avoid these types of crashes going forward.

"Outside of obviously checking for leaks, we’re going to add fire suppression to that volume and likely get a little more venting. Nothing so far points to postponing next rocket launch beyond next month," he said.

The last time a Starship upper stage malfunctioned was in March last year, when it returned to Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

It was SpaceX’s seventh Starship test since 2023, as part of Musk’s multibillion-dollar project. They want to build a rocket that can carry humans and supplies to Mars and large groups of satellites into Earth orbit.