US EditionSpaceX’s Expensive Starship Explosions Start to Add Up
Each Starship explosion in 2025 costs SpaceX $90 million to $150 million, challenging Elon Musk's Mars ambitions and investor confidence in the program's viability.
- SpaceX plans to conduct the tenth test launch of its Starship heavy-lift rocket at its Starbase facility in southern Texas on Sunday evening around 7:30 p.m. EDT.
- The program faces repeated failures in 2025, including three upper-stage explosions and a June incident caused by a nitrogen pressure vessel failure, raising concerns about the rocket's design and reliability.
- SpaceX builds lighter Starships to increase payload capacity, but this compromises structural strength and causes vibrations in the propulsion system that damage hardware.
- According to SpaceX, each fix adds mass and reduces payload, while Musk called the failures 'rapid unplanned disassembly,' with losses per explosion estimated between $90 million and $150 million.
- Despite setbacks, SpaceX aims to retire older rockets in favor of Starship and advance orbital refueling for deep-space missions, but these challenges could delay milestones like NASA's Artemis moon landing.
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·Paris, France
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Elon Musk's Starship mega-fusée retente a crucial test flight after a series of explosions, with the ambition to overcome technical difficulties and prove its reliability for future lunar missions
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·Paris, France
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources95
Leaning Left8Leaning Right11Center30Last UpdatedBias Distribution61% Center
Bias Distribution
- 61% of the sources are Center
61% Center
L 16%
C 61%
R 22%
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