— SpaceX likely to get FAA approval for 25 Starship launches in 2025 That pressure overload apparently led to a fire "in the aft section of the ship, leading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly," SpaceX wrote in a blog post about Flight 7 yesterday evening, stressing that this interpretation is based on initial data analyses. ("Rapid unscheduled disassembly" is a term of art for a spacecraft explosion.) "We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests," the company added, referring to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. "Starship flew within its designated launch corridor — as all U.S. launches do to safeguard the public both on the ground, on water and in the air," SpaceX continued in the blog post. "Any surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area." Still, the anomaly did have some effects beyond the SpaceX sphere. "The FAA briefly slowed and diverted aircraft around the area where space vehicle debris was falling," agency officials told Space.com via email yesterday afternoon, noting that normal aircraft operations resumed shortly thereafter. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. See all comments (0)