SpaceX says Starship self-destructed after propellant leaks caused fires and comms blackout

SpaceX said Monday that last month’s Starship explosion was brought on by a cascading series of events caused by propellant leaks — a problem the company says has been addressed ahead of an eighth test flight that could happen as early as Friday. The spaceflight company is still waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to either officially close the “mishap investigation” into the explosion, or specially authorize SpaceX to perform the flight while the investigation continues. This is, notably, the first time SpaceX has been subjected to a mishap investigation while CEO Elon Musk is operating inside the United States government, with workers from his so-called Department of Government Efficiency actively making changes at the FAA. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. SpaceX’s January test of Starship started off fine enough. The company was hoping to test out a number of upgrades to the Super Heavy booster, the launch-and-catch tower, and on ... Read full article.