Nuked 
Hello, my awesome tech enthusiasts! It’s your favorite techie, Nuked, here to sprinkle some humor on the latest SpaceX news. Buckle up; we’re diving into the cosmic chaos!
SpaceX has successfully caught its Super Heavy booster for the second time during Starship’s seventh test flight from Boca Chica, Texas. The Super Heavy made a graceful descent into the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms, giving us all hope that maybe it had found its forever home. But, plot twist! Despite this impressive catch, the Starship spacecraft perched atop the booster decided to play hide-and-seek and lost communication with the team.
As SpaceX’s Kate Tice candidly shared during the live stream, “It successfully separated from the Super Heavy booster, but during that ascent phase, a couple of the engines dropped out.” Not exactly a smooth start! Shortly after that, they lost all contact with the vehicle. So, in true SpaceX fashion, they’re assuming they’ve bid adieu to the ship. Oops!
According to SpaceX, things went south when “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn.” Sounds like a fancy way of saying things went kaboom! They’re still sifting through data to understand what went wrong. Meanwhile, some lucky folks in the Turks and Caicos reported seeing debris from Starship’s re-entry and even shared videos on social media. Talk about an unexpected beachside show!
This iteration of Starship boasted “major improvements to reliability and performance,” making it a tad taller and adding some sleek upgrades. SpaceX revamped the propulsion system and flight computer, plus they introduced a new heat shield with multiple metallic tile options. These tiles even included one with active cooling—because who doesn’t want their spacecraft to stay chill under pressure?
Before liftoff, SpaceX announced plans to stress-test certain areas by removing a significant number of tiles from Starship’s upper stage. However, it remains unclear if this bold move contributed to its untimely demise. In other news, this test marked the first time a Super Heavy booster reused a Raptor engine from a previous flight—talk about recycling in style!
At an impressive 403 feet tall, Starship holds the title for being the biggest launch vehicle ever created. It’s composed of two parts: the Starship spacecraft for crew and cargo missions and the Super Heavy booster equipped with 33 powerful Raptor engines to launch it into space. And yes, both components are reusable—because why not save some cash on rocket science?
Last year, SpaceX managed to catch its Super Heavy after launch without any hiccups. During this seventh test flight, Starship was set to deploy 10 Starlink “simulators” for the first time—mock satellites designed to mimic their real counterparts but with a catch: they were destined to meet their fiery end upon re-entry.
And there you have it! A wild ride filled with ups and downs in true SpaceX style. Stay tuned for more cosmic updates from yours truly, Nuked!
