Space X's Starship Blew up on Its Seventh Test Run — Who Owns the Starship?

Sending rockets into space has always been a dangerous game, but for most of the history of the United States, the government was the one behind the effort. Now, a slew of private space companies has entered the game in partnership with the government to launch the next wave of space exploration.

And while some of those private efforts have been major successes, it hasn't all been smooth sailing. Video of a Starship craft exploding after take off went viral on Jan. 16, leading many to wonder who owned the space craft. Here's what we know.

SpaceX is the company behind the Starship, and the craft blew up following its seventh test launch. The rocket, which stands at 403 feet tall, is designed to be a reusable rocket that can launch and then return to Earth multiple times. The vehicle was unmanned, but the explosion is a reminder that SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, still has a long way to go before it can start taking human cargo.

Following the explosion, Musk was quick to explain exactly what went wrong with the craft.

"Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity. Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

SpaceX is planning to launch as many as 25 rockets in 2025, and to their credit, have planned in for these kinds of failures. These unmanned rockets blowing up is obviously not good, but failure is certainly part of every scientific endeavor.

SpaceX provided more details about how the explosion had happened in a blog post posted on the evening of Jan. 16.

"We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests," the blog post said, explaining that the "rapid disassembly" had been caused by a fire in the aft section of the ship.

The company also added that, because they had planned for a potential explosion, the risk of debris causing damage on the ground was minimal.

"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," the company said. "Any surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area."

While risks were minimal, the explosion did apparently cause the FAA to divert or slow planes that were flying in that area so they could be sure to avoid falling debris.

Estimates about the cost per launch for Starship vary, but it looks like these rockets cost roughly $100 million per launch right. It's unclear whether that cost is increased when the rocket is launched, but SpaceX is a multibillion-dollar company, and this doesn't appear to represent a significant financial burden.