Ship 36 Experiences Anomaly During Engine Testing and is Lost

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SpaceX had been pushing to launch the 10th Flight test of Starship with a record turnaround between flights. However, during an attempted six-engine static fire of Ship 36, a significant anomaly occurred, resulting in the loss of the ship and damage to the Masseys test site.

Ship 36 Anomaly

To this point of preparations, Ship 36 had already completed two cryogenic proof tests and a single-engine static fire. The night of June 18, it was set to complete a six-engine static fire before attempting a launch no earlier than June 29, according to the Federal Aviation Administration operations plan.

However, at 11:01:54 pm CDT during final propellant load for its six-engine static fire, Ship 36 experienced a pair of explosions that ripped the Ship apart, resulting in a large fireball and damaging infrastructure at Masseys. The initial blast originated in the payload bay. The second explosion was the rest of the propellant igniting.

SpaceX Update on Ship 36 Anomaly (Credit: SpaceX)

According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and the SpaceX updates page, the initial failure mode could be due to a failure of a COPV, or Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. These are carbon fiber-wrapped bottles that can hold various commodities, such as Nitrogen, Helium, Oxygen, etc. These particular bottles are used because commodities can be held at high pressures and are much lighter than steel bottles of similar size.

There are several COPVs on the wall of the payload bay on the windward side; these can be seen in footage from Ship 35’s flight test. It appears that one of these ruptured, and with the payload bay wall behind it, it acted like a shaped charge, ripping the wall outward.

This, in turn, then ripped apart the header tank transfer tubes, which run right next to these COPVs on the windward side of the Ship. With these ruptures, all of the Liquid Methane (LCH4) and Liquid Oxygen (LOX) inside the tubes mixed and instantly ignited. This then resulted in the failure of the forward dome, causing the top part of the ship to collapse.

The rest of the propellant then ignited, which caused the secondary explosion as observed in NSF videos. The explosion appears to have caused enough damage to the LCH4 farm beside it that fires were still burning for several hours after the anomaly.

A very positive note is that, to our knowledge, no personnel were injured, and all photographers are okay thanks to preset exclusion zones.

However, for the Starship program, this is a notable setback. SpaceX has not only lost a Ship in ground testing for the first time since SN4 but has had what could be significant damage to the Masseys Static fire stand and possibly more infrastructure at Masseys. With the loss of Ship 36, SpaceX will not be flying again soon.

The COPVs installed on Starship and Booster share no commonality with SpaceX’s other rocket, the Falcon 9. So this is an isolated problem for the Starship Program.

As this is during ground testing, the FAA is not involved in any investigation. However, SpaceX will conduct its own investigation before proceeding with any further testing and flying.

Ship 36 on its Final Voyage to Masseys (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

What’s Next?

With the sudden loss of a Ship that was nearly ready for flight and damage to the infrastructure needed to test Ships and Boosters, SpaceX is in a bind. Ship 37 had just started receiving its engines this past week, but without a way to static fire them, it will remain in Mega Bay 2 until repairs can be made. Ship 38 is in Mega Bay 2 and currently needs cryogenic proof testing before even getting engines. It is unclear if the Ship cryogenic proof stand is still operational.

Booster 16 on Pad A (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

To add even more on, SpaceX is in the process of building Block 3 of the Ship, which is slated to start with Ship 39. With Block 3 Ship so close, SpaceX would only repair the Ship Quick Disconnect at Masseys for two ships before having to modify it again for Block 3. The question for SpaceX is whether it is worthwhile to do that.

As for Boosters, well, SpaceX has Booster 16 ready to fly and has recently removed the hot stage ring, as it won’t be flying soon. Booster 15-2 is ready and waiting for its next flight, which is likely to be the last flight of Block 2 of Booster. At this point, Booster 17 is not flying, as SpaceX has only two Block 2 ships left.

B18.1 Test Tank at Masseys Prior to Ship 36 Explosion (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)

Booster 18 is an entirely different problem; there is a chance that the B18.1 test tank at Masseys sustained damage, which would delay testing and production of Booster Block 3. Additionally, the new Booster thrust sim stand under construction at Masseys appears to have been charred and may have been damaged due to the fires. Overall, this could also delay the testing and construction of Booster Block 3.

Between the potential repairs needed at Masseys and SpaceX possibly needing to inspect every COPV in its Starship fleet, this could add a multi-month delay to the Starship Program.

Featured Image: Ship 36’s Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (Credit: D Wise for NSF)

The post Ship 36 Experiences Anomaly During Engine Testing and is Lost appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



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