Elon Gets It Up - but Can't Keep It Up

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

There's a reason Elon Musk does not ride one of his Starships into space - because the damn things keep blowing up!  

Well, to be fair, the latest one (test flight #8) blew itself up last Thursday nine minutes after it launched from the faux space cowboy's "Starbase" in south Texas. the result of an "energetic event" that took place in the vehicle's aft section which led to the loss of several Raptor engines and a communications breakdown.

Well, to be extra-fair, it didn't actually blow-up or explode.  Elon's company described the event as "a rapid, unscheduled disassembly."

On January 16th, less than two months ago, another "rapid unscheduled disassembly" occurred with an Elon Starship (test flight #7) when it was just eight-and-a-half minutes into its flight - so yesterday's flight sounds like a win for the billionaire businessman who doesn't seem to own a suit.   He posted a net gain in flight time of thirty seconds.  (I wonder how much that half-a-minute will wind up costing US taxpayers?)

The first three test flights of the SpaceX Starship also ended in failure.  The goal of the test flights is to safely drop the craft into the Indian Ocean.  The Musk crew launched two in 2023, four in 2024, and now two in 2025.

Test flights #4 and #5, which happened in 2024, were successful, and #6, which also happened in 2024, had a successful flight, but the rocket that had pushed the craft into space failed to return as planned and instead had a rapid, unscheduled disassembly as it splashed down into the Gulf of Mexico.

(A news report on National Public Radio (NPR) yesterday referred to the wreckage  and debris as falling into the "Caribbean Sea," and then later "the Caribbean," and finally "the Gulf").

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that this Thursday's Starship explosion (yes, the FAA used the "e-word") disrupted 240 flights, with space debris causing more than two dozen flights to divert.  The FAA also ordered ground stops at four major Florida airports:  Orlando, Miami, Palm Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood.

Elon is planning a total of 25 test launches, and that will require the approval of federal regulators.   Those federal regulators who have not already been laid off by Elon's DOGE team of aging adolescents will undoubtedly give that request the due consideration it deserves!

Elon says he plans to try again in around four weeks, but if he gets it up, can he keep it up - or will it once again result in a rapid, unscheduled disassembly?