Elon Musk, known for his spontaneous responses to tricky situations, once again amused the internet after his Space X’s Starship 7 test flight ended abruptly with the upper stage exploding over the Atlantic, causing the debris to fall from the sky, making it look like a meteor shower.
The next-generation mega rocket’s disintegration led to the diversion of flights in the US over the Gulf of Mexico to avoid coming in contact with the falling debris. This spectacle was caught on video by several people and posted online.
Sharing one such video from his X account, Musk wrote: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”.
Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed! ✨
pic.twitter.com/nn3PiP8XwG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
He also said that as an initial analysis of what led to the Starship craft’s failure. Suggesting it may have been an oxygen or fuel leak above the engine firewall.
What happened to Starship 7 during test flight
Approximately seven minutes after liftoff, the stainless steel Super Heavy booster slowed from supersonic speeds—producing sonic booms—before descending smoothly into the waiting arms of the launch tower, drawing cheers from ground control teams.
This marked the seventh test of the tallest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built, which lifted off from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The manoeuvre, first successfully executed in October, was not repeated in November when the Super Heavy made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico instead.
Shortly after the latest successful booster catch, however, announcers on the live webcast confirmed that the upper-stage vehicle was lost due to a propulsion anomaly.
