SpaceX Dodges Starship Accident During Full Stack Test

SpaceX may be pushing it's Starship production too fast, after employees raise concerns about safety during a recent full stack test.

According to a report from The Information in mid October, SpaceX conducted a full stack test of Starship, but that test almost ended in disaster. A full stack test is when the Starship ship is raised by the chopsticks on the launch tower and placed on top of the Super Heavy Booster on top of the orbital launch mount.

During this full stack test in mid October, Starship had a gas vent, which lead to the pressure of the vehicle to quickly drop. If the pressure of the Starship had gone below the ambient pressure outside, the ship would have crumpled in on itself, leading to the launch vehicles collapse. According to the employee who spoke to The Information, there were about 2 dozen SpaceX crew at the pad when this pressure drop occurred and Starship was filled with liquid oxygen a violation of SpaceX's own safety protocols.

"As someone who as stood inside the fence of the Starbase Orbital Launch Facility and under a fully stacked Starship, it is something of science fiction. During the 2022 Starship Update event with Elon Musk, there were multiple pressure vents reminding you of the balance of pressure that was use to keep the ship standing tall"

Zachary Aubert, Host of The Launch Pad

Luckily no catastrophic failure occurred but it does call into question how fast is too fast, and at what point does even the safest company start skipping their own safety protocols.

At time of writing this story neither Elon or SpaceX have made any statements about this situation.