SpaceX just declared this about Starship B18 Catastrophic Failure. Is that Sabotage?
SpaceX just declared this about Starship B18 Catastrophic Failure. Is that Sabotage? === #alphatech #techalpha #spacex #elonmusk === SpaceX just declared this about Starship B18 Catastrophic Failure. Is that Sabotage? SpaceX has finally revealed the exact reason why Booster 18 blew up so violently at the Massey site yesterday, and honestly, this explanation is going to surprise a lot of people, because it’s very similar to what happened with Ship 36. So, what exactly did the company say? Is this another case of sabotage? Or just the kind of issues you typically see with a brand-new hardware version? Let’s break it all down in today’s episode of Alpha Tech. SpaceX just declared this about Starship B18 Catastrophic Failure. Is that Sabotage? Just two days ago, SpaceX rushed Booster 18, the very first Super Heavy Version 3, out of the Megabay 1 and rolled it to the Massey site for pressure testing, better known as a cryo test. After arriving, it was lifted onto the test stand, and at around 4:04 AM on November 21, the booster suddenly blew out in a violent burst. What’s interesting is that the blast came from the lower section of the booster, the area packed with COPVs and the LOX tank, yet the structure itself didn’t really “explode.” It mostly just crumpled in that region, with no fireball or flames whatsoever. That alone caught everyone off guard. Of course, SpaceX immediately halted all work with the vehicle. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and more importantly, the test stand and nearby infrastructure were untouched, since this was technically a small explosion. Still, the strange part was that the event produced zero fire, which is unusual for anything involving a rocket of this scale. SpaceX just declared this about Starship B18 Catastrophic Failure. Is that Sabotage? Just a few hours later, SpaceX broke the silence and clarified the situation. On X, they said: “Booster 18 suffered an anomaly during gas system pressure testing that we were conducting in advance of structural proof testing. No propellant was on the vehicle, and engines were not yet installed.” They added: “The teams need time to investigate before we are confident of the cause. No one was injured as we maintain a safe distance for personnel during this type of testing.” So yes, SpaceX isn’t fully confident yet about what exactly happened. They need more time to analyze the data before making any definitive statement. But hold on, they did leave one extremely important detail: “No propellant was on the vehicle.” === Subcribe Alpha Tech: / @alphatech4966 ===
