MW SpaceX's Starship blew up. Elon Musk says it's 'barely a bump in the road'.
By James Rogers
Space stocks have shrugged off the explosion of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft during its seventh flight test
SpaceX CEO Musk has described the explosion of the company's Starship spacecraft during its seventh flight test Thursday as "barely a bump in the road," underlining the momentum behind the commercial space giant.
Space stocks also shrugged off the Starship explosion, pointing to the industry's growing maturity. Rocket Lab USA Inc. $(RKLB)$ shares are up 1% in premarket trades, while Redwire Corp. $(RDW.UK)$ is up 2.5% and Planet Labs PBC $(PL)$ is up 1.6%. BlackSky Technology Inc. (BKSY) shares are up 3.3% and Spire Global Inc. (SPIR) is up 1.1%, while Globalstar Inc. $(GSAT)$is up 0.5% and Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. $(SPCE)$ is up 1.1%. However, Intuitive Machines Inc. (LUNR) shares are down 0.5%.
However, the explosion forced airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris, the Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported. Dozens of commercial flights diverted to other airports or altered course to avoid potential debris, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. Departures from airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were also delayed by about 45 minutes, it added. The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates private launch activities, said it had briefly slowed and diverted planes around the area where space debris was falling, but normal operations had since resumed.
Musk said that SpaceX is unlikely to push its next Starship flight test beyond next month.
For the second time, SpaceX successfully captured Starship's rocket booster on mechanical arms, dubbed "chopsticks. However, following stage separation the Starship spacecraft exploded, approximately eight-and-a-half minutes into the flight. "Initial data indicates a fire developed in the aft section of the ship, leading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly," said SpaceX, in a statement.
Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin has entered the orbital space race. What it means for SpaceX and the space industry.
"The 9 meter diameter version of Starship will probably fly 10,000 times, so this is barely a bump in the road," Musk wrote on X, late Thursday. The SpaceX CEO pointed to the successful catch of the rocket's booster, and described the spacecraft's flight as being "1/4 successful."
"Hence cup being 5/8 full," he added.
"Improved heat shield performance was the only major thing that wasn't tested, along with the 'Pez' payload dispenser," he wrote. "Probably solved in next month's launch."
The 'Pez' payload dispenser, so called because of its resemblance to the popular candy dispenser, will be used to deploy Starlink satellites.
Related: These are the space stocks to watch in 2025
"Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month," he wrote on X, in a separate post.
Generating more than twice the thrust of NASA's Saturn V rocket, which was used to transport astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program, Starship is the largest rocket ever built. The Starship spacecraft and rocket stand 403-feet tall, almost 100-feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.
NASA is planning to use Starship for its Artemis III mission to land humans on the moon in 2027. The spacecraft is also designed to play a key role in future Mars exploration missions.
This has been a big week for the space industry. Early Thursday Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon.com Inc. $(AMZN)$ co-founder Jeff Bezos, completed the first flight test of its huge New Glenn rocket. The New Glenn flight test could have major implications for the long-term economics of the space industry, say experts.
-James Rogers
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 17, 2025 08:16 ET (13:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments