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678 points chinathrow | 2 comments | 16 Jan 25 21:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.411s | source

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terramex ◴[16 Jan 25 23:04 UTC] No.42732041[source]▶

Looks like second stage broke up over Caribbean, videos of the debris (as seen from ground):

Moment of the breakup:

The last one is stage separation, not an explosion. You can clearly see the "exploded" rocket continuing to fly afterwards.

walrus01 ◴[16 Jan 25 23:24 UTC] No.42732236[source]▶

That's for sure not stage separation, that's an explosion from the FTS rupturing the ship tanks.

1. pixl97 ◴[16 Jan 25 23:28 UTC] No.42732272[source]▶

Eh I'm thinking more it was a reentry explosion from pressurized tanks. Engines had failed a while before then.

replies(1): >>42732363 #

This is over the Bahamas. Re-entry was much further east, near Turks and Caicos Islands.

Also, if a pressurized tank is reentering, that means the FTS failed to detonate.

Starship Flight 7