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Musk Emphasizes Uncertainty of Success Amid Starship Debris Fallout

Before the SpaceX launch, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin's massive New Glenn rocket successfully reached orbital space for the 1st time overnight, signaling a potential turning point in the commercial space race.

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By Mausam Pandya
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Rh3y

Washington:
The most recent test of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship, an enormous next-generation megarocket, concluded with the upper stage dramatically by  breaking apart over the Atlantic, by causing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to change their routes to steer clear of falling debris.

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Approximately 7 minutes post-liftoff, the stainless steel Super Heavy booster decelerated from supersonic speeds, creating sonic booms, before easily descending into the awaiting launch tower, which sparked a round of applause from the ground control teams.

The enhanced, taller version of the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever constructed took off from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, for its 7th test flight.

This maneuver was easily performed for the first time in October, but in November, the Super Heavy made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico instead. After the latest booster catch, however, live webcast announcers gave a confirmation that the upper stage vehicle had been lost due to a propulsion anomaly.

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The FlightAware tracker indicated that many aircrafts in the Atlantic altered their paths near the Turks and Caicos Islands, while users on X shared dramatic footage that allegedly showed the spacecraft disintegrating in a fiery display during atmospheric re-entry.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees private launch operations, had reported that it had briefly slowed and rerouted planes around that area where space debris was descending, but normal operations had since returned to normal.

The FAA typically closes airspace for space launches and reentries, but it can establish a "debris response area" to keep aircraft out if any space vehicle encounters an anomaly outside of the initially closed zone.

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"Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!" Elon Musk posted on X, sharing a clip.

He also recently shared "preliminary" analysis regarding the possible cause of the Starship spacecraft's failure approximately 10 minutes into the flight. 

"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.

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Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month," Musk posted on twitter. Before the SpaceX launch, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin's massive New Glenn rocket successfully reached orbital space for the 1st time overnight, signaling a potential turning point in the commercial space race.

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