2 minute read•Updated 1:18 PM EDT, Mon March 31, 2025
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has officially closed its investigation into the SpaceX Starship Flight 7 mishap, which occurred on January 16, 2025.
The investigation, which was led by SpaceX with FAA oversight, concluded without any reported public injuries. However, the FAA confirmed one instance of minor vehicle damage in the Turks and Caicos Islands, likely caused by debris from the high-altitude failure of the Starship vehicle.
According to the final mishap report, the probable root cause of the in-flight failure was attributed to unexpectedly strong vibrations experienced during flight. These vibrations led to increased mechanical stress on the vehicle’s propulsion system, ultimately resulting in a hardware failure that caused the mission to end prematurely.
SpaceX’s investigation identified 11 corrective actions aimed at preventing similar failures in future flights. Although specific details of these actions have not been disclosed publicly due to proprietary and security concerns, the FAA confirmed that it reviewed and verified all corrective measures prior to granting clearance for Starship Flight 8.
The closure of this mishap investigation marks another step forward in the iterative development of SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship launch system, which is central to the company’s long-term plans for lunar landings under NASA’s Artemis program and eventual crewed missions to Mars.
Starship Flight 7 was SpaceX’s seventh full-stack test flight of the combined Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage. While the vehicle achieved several key test objectives during its ascent phase, it suffered a failure prior to planned reentry and was lost. Despite the mishap, data gathered during the flight has been instrumental in refining system performance and validating new design improvements implemented in subsequent vehicles.
The FAA emphasized that public safety remains a top priority and noted that SpaceX had cooperated fully with the investigative process.
As Starship edges closer to operational status, each test flight—whether successful or not—adds vital knowledge to the development of the next generation of space transportation.
