Elon Musk gaming livestream reveals near-crisis in Starship landing
- During the IFT-5 test flight on October 13, 2023, SpaceX almost triggered an abort due to a misconfigured component.
- A cover on the booster ripped off just before descent, but critical systems remained undamaged.
- The close call highlights the importance of safety, risk mitigation, and data analysis in future SpaceX missions.
On October 13, 2023, SpaceX successfully conducted the fifth integrated test flight (IFT-5) of its Starship rocket system in the United States, achieving its goal of returning the Super Heavy booster to the launch site. During a recent gaming session streamed by Elon Musk on social media, an engineer revealed that the flight was alarmingly close to a disaster, being "one second away" from triggering an abort procedure due to a misconfigured component. Additionally, a cover on the booster’s skin ripped off just as it descended back to Earth, although no critical components were damaged. Musk and SpaceX engineers reflected on this close call, stressing the importance of safety and risk mitigation in future launches. They also acknowledged the wealth of post-flight data now available from the IFT-5 test, which will inform their preparations for subsequent missions and help balance performance speed with safety precautions moving forward. Notably, this mission marks a departure from previous scheduling as the next flight will not be subject to FAA approval timelines, thus allowing SpaceX to potentially speed up its testing program.