SpaceX completed the investigation of the causes of the Starship Flight accident 7, What happened 16 January 2025 year. The device lost communication and collapsed over the Caribbean by passing fuel, caused by unexpected fluctuations in the engine system.
Causes of the accident:
- The fuel leakage occurred due to harmonic resonance, which turned out to be much stronger in flight, than during ground tests.
- About two minutes after separation from the first stage, there was a flash in the tail of the ship, and then - the increase in pressure in the section of fuel pipelines.
- A few minutes after the first flash, a strong fire broke out, which resulted in an emergency shutdown of all engines, except for one.
- Telemetry from the ship was lost on 8 a minute 20 seconds of flight, and the emergency termination system was activated three minutes after the loss of contact.
Upgrades before launching Flight 8.
To avoid repeating problems, SpaceX has made a number of technical changes:
- Renewal of fuel lines of vacuum engines.
- Fuel temperature adjustment for stable operation.
- Changing the traction mode of the engines during the next flight.
- Adding vents and a nitrogen purge system to reduce the risk of ignition in the tail of the ship.
12 In February, SpaceX conducted a 60-second static test of the Flight engines 8, to reproduce and eliminate the oscillation problem.
Plans to launch Flight 8:
- Tentative launch date: 28 February 2025 year (pending FAA approval).
- Mission objectives:
- Testing of the new payload output system, including four mockups of the new generation Starlink satellites.
- Thermal protection testing during entry into the atmosphere (in particular, metal tiles with active cooling).
- An attempt to "catch" the first degree (Super Heavy) on the Starbase launch tower.
The super-heavy stage of the missile received updated avionics, power system and upgraded igniters for Raptor engines, to prevent problems, which arose on Flight 7.
Source: https://spacenews.com/spacex-completes-investigation-into-starship-flight-7-mishap/