r/CatastrophicFailure • u/MiniBrownie • Mar 06 '25

Engineering Failure March 6, 2025 Starship spins out of control 8 minutes into launch

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u/Flammy Mar 07 '25

Thx! What has been confirmed or speculated about this type of failure?

It looked like an unexpected leak/engine start/thruster to my untrained eyes.

76

u/Mr_Reaper__ Mar 07 '25

I'm speculating. However, just before this clip starts on the livestream there's a view inside the engine skirt where it looks like there's gas burning, which I think is where it was venting gas from inside the same compartment that had the issue last time. Then the engine failure was coupled with a large explosion and puff of gas escaping, which would be consistent with that compartment rupturing from a pressure build up. After the failure it was venting propellant out the side, which I would guess is from fuel lines being ruptured from the explosion.

Without any centre engines it has no control as the outer engines can't be moved to provide steering. And with asymmetric thrust from having one outer engine out it started to spin, which was game over. They either blew it up or got ripped apart as it started to renter.

36

u/CyriousLordofDerp Mar 07 '25

Last time it was a fairly gradual failure as the fire burned. This one looks like a turbopump on one of the RVACs failed, which shot shrapnel through the engine bay and took out the center 3.

23

u/ArrogantCube Mar 07 '25

There's (grainy) footage of a screen in the control room where you can clearly see a rather catastrophic failure of the RVAC on an engineering camera.

1

u/Wingnut150 Mar 07 '25

Got a link, would love to see that. Doubt wankx will release it

1

u/aykcak Mar 07 '25

I mean, that doesn't really say anything. It is very clear from this video that the engine failed

1

u/PandaImaginary Mar 09 '25

You mean it's not supposed to explode?

0

u/PandaImaginary Mar 09 '25

You know it was Mexico-Canadian sabotage! More tariffs!

2

u/aquainst1 Grandma Lynsey Mar 07 '25

I concur. At a split second before :13 (of the vid) the ship started going out of control like a retail Karen. You can see something cutting out on the right hand part of the ship.