SpaceX has a new Raptor vacuum Problem after Starship Flight 12; Delayed HLS on NASA Artemis...

[00:06] I watched it and immediately thought,

[00:09] "Wow." Because Flight 12 somehow looked

[00:11] spectacular and slightly concerning at

[00:14] the same time, which is becoming a very

[00:16] Starship experience. On the surface, the

[00:18] mission was impressive. And for a

[00:20] moment, Starship looked dangerously

[00:22] close to true reusability. But then

[00:24] there was the engine. No explosion, no

[00:27] dramatic failure, just smoke drifting

[00:29] around a Raptor vacuum engine like it

[00:31] had already submitted its resignation

[00:32] paperwork. So, what happened? Why did

[00:34] the engine fail? How will SpaceX

[00:36] respond? And despite the issue, why are

[00:39] many people still calling Flight 12 one

[00:41] of the most successful ship flights yet?

[00:43] Let's break it down on today's episode

[00:45] of Great SpaceX. What a chaotic,

[00:47] beautiful stainless steel roller coaster

[00:49] it turned out to be. One of the biggest

[00:51] highlights of the flight was the debut

[00:53] power of the Raptor 3 engines. These

[00:55] engines represent the next evolution of

[00:57] SpaceX propulsion. Now overall, the ship

[01:00] portion of flight 12 actually performed

[01:02] extremely well. But early into Ascent,

[01:05] trouble appeared. At T + 3 minutes and 3

[01:08] seconds, one of the Raptor vacuum

[01:09] engines failed, and unlike temporary

[01:12] glitches seen on previous flights, this

[01:14] one never recovered. The engine was

[01:16] completely dead. SpaceX later confirmed

[01:18] the issue in an official update stating,

[01:21] "During its ascent burn to space,

[01:23] Starship lost one of the Raptor 3 vacuum

[01:25] engines, but demonstrated its engine out

[01:27] capability and achieved its planned

[01:29] trajectory." That statement is important

[01:31] because despite the failure, ship still

[01:33] successfully reached its intended

[01:35] trajectory. That alone is a major

[01:38] achievement. But obviously, losing an

[01:39] engine this early is not something

[01:41] SpaceX can casually ignore while

[01:43] pretending everything is fine. So, what

[01:45] exactly caused the problem? To

[01:47] understand it, we need to examine the

[01:49] live stream footage carefully. The most

[01:51] revealing moment came at t plus 7

[01:53] minutes and 29 seconds. At that point,

[01:55] the three sea-le engines and two of the

[01:57] vacuum engines were still operating

[01:59] normally. But one vacuum engine stood

[02:01] out immediately and not in a good way.

[02:04] There was no visible exhaust plume, no

[02:06] bright energy emission, nothing. The

[02:09] engine looked completely inactive.

[02:11] Instead, it was surrounded by an odd

[02:13] cloud of grayish blue smoke. And unlike

[02:16] the other engines, the upper section

[02:18] also lacked frost buildup. That detail

[02:21] may seem small, but it's actually

[02:23] extremely important. The frost normally

[02:25] appears because the engine components

[02:27] remain incredibly cold due to cryogenic

[02:30] propellants. But if heat suddenly rises

[02:32] in that area, the frost disappears,

[02:35] which strongly suggests something near

[02:37] the top of the engine overheated or

[02:39] worse burned. That immediately led many

[02:42] observers to suspect structural damage.

[02:44] And honestly, the evidence supports that

[02:46] theory pretty well. Now, here's where

[02:48] things get especially interesting. In

[02:51] the Raptor 3 design, SpaceX removed the

[02:53] external engine heat shield that existed

[02:55] on earlier Raptors. Previously, there

[02:58] was a protective outer casing around the

[03:00] upper portions of the engine. But with

[03:02] Raptor 3, SpaceX decided they no longer

[03:04] needed it. Why? Because the company

[03:06] wanted to reduce mass and simplify the

[03:08] engine architecture. SpaceX also

[03:10] believed Raptor 3 had become integrated

[03:12] enough to survive without additional

[03:14] thermal protection, but Flight 12 may

[03:16] have exposed the limits of that

[03:18] confidence. During ascent, the engine

[03:21] likely experienced intense thermal

[03:23] stress. That heat could have damaged

[03:25] sensitive plumbing or components near

[03:27] the top section. And once damage began,

[03:30] things may have escalated quickly. The

[03:32] smoke itself could indicate a leak. If

[03:34] cracks formed in the engine structure or

[03:36] propellant lines, hot gases escaping

[03:39] under extreme pressure would create

[03:41] exactly the kind of plume visible in the

[03:43] footage. And because these engines

[03:44] operate under absurd conditions, even

[03:47] tiny failures can grow very quickly.

[03:50] Remember, Raptor engines run at chamber

[03:52] pressures so high they basically treat

[03:54] physics like a speed limit suggestion.

[03:57] This is not forgiving hardware. Now,

[03:59] interestingly, the engine issue wasn't

[04:01] the only visible damage on ship.

[04:04] Sharpeyed viewers also noticed what

[04:06] appeared to be minor damage around the

[04:07] ship's skirt area, specifically near the

[04:10] region between sea level engine number

[04:12] 140 and vacuum engine number 98. A red

[04:15] glow became visible in the live stream

[04:17] footage, most likely. This damage

[04:19] occurred during hot staging separation.

[04:21] That's the phase where ship ignites its

[04:23] engines while still attached to Super

[04:25] Heavy. During the sequence, small sparks

[04:28] or thermal blasts may have damaged part

[04:30] of the skirt structure. Fortunately, it

[04:33] appears to have been relatively minor.

[04:34] The bigger concern remains the engines.

[04:36] And right now, fixing them is absolutely

[04:39] critical for SpaceX because one thing

[04:41] seems very clear. SpaceX probably

[04:43] doesn't want to bring back the old heat

[04:45] shield design. Doing so would almost

[04:48] feel like admitting defeat. The entire

[04:50] philosophy behind Raptor 3 is

[04:52] simplification and integration. Reding

[04:54] bulky shielding would partially reverse

[04:56] that progress. Readdding bulky shielding

[04:59] would partially reverse that progress.

[05:01] So instead, SpaceX will likely search

[05:03] for smarter solutions. One possibility

[05:05] involves upgrading the engine materials

[05:07] themselves. Certain components may need

[05:09] improved heat resistance or better

[05:11] durability under extreme operating

[05:13] conditions. The challenge, however, is

[05:15] scale. SpaceX already has many Raptor

[05:18] engines manufactured. If a major

[05:20] material flaw exists, replacing

[05:22] everything would become massively

[05:23] expensive and timeconuming. So any

[05:26] material improvements may primarily

[05:28] apply to future production runs. For

[05:30] existing engines, SpaceX may instead

[05:32] focus on external reinforcement methods.

[05:35] That could include specialized coatings

[05:36] or heat resistant paints designed to

[05:39] improve thermal protection without

[05:41] significantly increasing mass. It sounds

[05:43] simple, but advanced aerospace coatings

[05:45] can make a huge difference. SpaceX may

[05:48] also prioritize improvements to the

[05:49] cooling systems. More efficient thermal

[05:51] management could reduce overheating and

[05:53] better protect vulnerable engine

[05:55] sections during ascent. Another critical

[05:57] area involves fire detection and

[05:59] suppression. Future systems may become

[06:01] more responsive and capable of

[06:03] identifying early warning signs before

[06:05] visible damage develops. In particular,

[06:07] the smaller pipes and plumbing sections

[06:09] likely deserve special attention. These

[06:11] tiny components are often the most

[06:13] vulnerable parts of the rocket engines.

[06:15] But despite all these issues, there's

[06:17] still a huge positive takeaway from

[06:18] Flight 12. The ship survived. Not only

[06:20] did it survive, it completed its mission

[06:23] objectives remarkably well. That

[06:24] reflects one of the smartest aspects of

[06:26] SpaceX's design philosophy. Instead of

[06:29] relying on a few giant engines, Starship

[06:32] uses many smaller ones. That means the

[06:34] vehicle can tolerate engine failure

[06:35] without catastrophic mission loss.

[06:37] Losing one engine does not automatically

[06:39] doom the spacecraft. And honestly, it's

[06:41] one of the reasons Starship remains so

[06:43] exciting despite all the explosions.

[06:45] Every test keeps revealing that the

[06:47] system itself is surprisingly resilient.

[06:49] So, the big question now is this. Can

[06:51] SpaceX fix the engine issue quickly

[06:53] enough to push Starship even further on

[06:55] the next flight? Because the company

[06:57] clearly isn't slowing down. If anything,

[06:59] they seem more aggressive than ever. And

[07:00] honestly, if you know SpaceX, you

[07:02] already know the engineers are probably

[07:04] sleeping beside laptops right now while

[07:06] someone whispers flight 13 in the

[07:08] distance like a horror movie villain.

[07:10] But engines were only part of the story.

[07:12] Overall, ship actually performed

[07:14] extremely well during flight 12. In

[07:16] fact, compared to previous flights, this

[07:19] may have been the most reassuring ship

[07:21] performance yet. One major success

[07:23] involved maintaining stability

[07:24] throughout the remainder of the mission.

[07:26] Even after losing an engine, the rest of

[07:28] the propulsion system stayed healthy.

[07:31] That stability became especially

[07:33] important during landing operations.

[07:35] SpaceX successfully performed landing

[07:37] flip maneuvers and continued testing

[07:39] dual engine landing capability. Those

[07:42] tests are essentially for future

[07:44] recovery operations and they appeared

[07:46] far more controlled this time around.

[07:49] Then came payload deployment which was

[07:51] another huge milestone. SpaceX

[07:53] successfully deployed two Starling

[07:55] satellites during this mission and those

[07:57] satellites later captured some

[07:58] absolutely stunning imagery of ship in

[08:01] space. But perhaps the biggest victory

[08:04] involved the heat shield. Before flight

[08:06] 12, thermal protection remained one of

[08:08] Starship's biggest weaknesses. With

[08:10] earlier flights showing major tile loss

[08:13] and severe re-entry damage, this time

[08:15] looked dramatically better. Splashdown

[08:17] footage revealed a far cleaner exterior

[08:20] with the massive orange oxidation

[08:22] streaks from previous flights largely

[08:24] gone. That is major progress because

[08:26] true reusability depends on surviving

[08:28] re-entry without extensive

[08:30] refurbishment. Several critical regions,

[08:32] including the aft flaps and fuel tank

[08:34] sections, also returned in notably good

[08:36] condition despite historically being

[08:38] vulnerable during descent. The upgraded

[08:41] thermal protection systems appear to be

[08:43] working, and that matters enormously for

[08:45] future reuse and landing operations. For

[08:47] the first time in a while, it generally

[08:49] feels like SpaceX is beginning to close

[08:51] the gap between experimental prototype

[08:53] and operational spacecraft. Orbital

[08:55] landings, rapid reuse, eventually

[08:58] catching and relaunching ships. Those

[09:00] goals suddenly feel far more realistic

[09:02] than they did even a year ago. Of

[09:04] course, major challenges remain. Engine

[09:06] reliability still needs improvement, and

[09:08] full operational reusability remains

[09:10] unproven. But Flight 12 demonstrated

[09:13] something critical. Starship is evolving

[09:15] rapidly, and every flight is solving

[09:18] real problems, even while discovering

[09:20] new ones, which I've got to say is

[09:22] basically the history of rocket

[09:24] development. The Aremis 3 crew has been

[09:26] finally announced. And while the

[09:28] astronauts themselves are certainly

[09:30] exciting, the bigger story may actually

[09:32] be how NASA plans to pull off the

[09:34] mission. Because Artemis 3 is shaping up

[09:37] to be one of the most complex space

[09:39] missions ever attempted, involving

[09:42] multiple rockets, multiple spacecraft,

[09:44] multiple docking, June 9th marked an

[09:46] important day for NASA. As promised, the

[09:49] agency officially revealed the astronaut

[09:52] crew selected for Aremis 3. The mission

[09:54] will be commanded by NASA astronaut

[09:57] Randu Breznik. Joining him will be NASA

[09:59] astronauts Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas

[10:02] as mission specialists while ESA

[10:04] astronaut Luca Pararmitano will serve as

[10:07] mission pilots. It's an impressive team

[10:09] and unlike Artemis 2 which is focused

[10:12] primarily on flying around the moon,

[10:13] Artemis 3 has a very different

[10:15] objective. These astronauts won't

[10:17] actually be landing on the lunar

[10:19] surface. Instead, they will help test

[10:21] and validate critical systems that

[10:23] future moon missions will depend upon.

[10:25] NASA didn't just announce the crew. The

[10:27] agency also revealed new details about

[10:30] how Artemis 3 is expected to unfold. And

[10:32] honestly, the mission architecture is

[10:34] fascinating. According to NASA, Artemis

[10:37] 3 will involve three separate launches.

[10:39] The agency described the mission as

[10:41] launching the world's most powerful

[10:43] rockets in short order. That phrase

[10:44] alone should excite space enthusiasts

[10:47] because whenever multiple super heavy

[10:49] rockets are involved in the same

[10:50] mission, things tend to get very

[10:52] interesting. The entire mission is

[10:54] expected to last roughly 2 weeks.

[10:56] However, the exact duration will depend

[10:58] on how various rendevous and docking

[11:00] operations unfold in real time. Space

[11:03] missions rarely follow a schedule down

[11:05] to the minute. Space has a habit of

[11:07] reminding everyone who's really in

[11:08] charge. The first launch will involve

[11:10] Blue Origin's lunar lander pathfinder.

[11:13] Assuming New Glenn is operational and

[11:15] ready by then, it'll likely carry the

[11:17] Pathfinder into orbit. This spacecraft

[11:19] will arrive well before the astronauts.

[11:21] The goal is to allow the lander to spend

[11:23] several weeks operating in space while

[11:25] engineers evaluate how well it survives

[11:27] and functions in the harsh orbital

[11:30] environment. Think of it as a dress

[11:31] rehearsal before the main performance,

[11:33] except the stage is orbit, and the

[11:35] audience is every space agency on Earth.

[11:38] And after the lander is already waiting

[11:40] in orbit, NASA will launch the second

[11:42] major mission. This will be Orion riding

[11:45] a top the SLS. Inside Orion will be the

[11:48] four astronauts NASA just announced.

[11:51] Once in space, Orion will rendevous and

[11:53] dock with the Blue Origin lander. The

[11:55] docking phase is expected to last about

[11:57] 2 days. During that time, the astronauts

[11:59] will conduct system checks, perform

[12:01] demonstrations, and enter the lander

[12:03] itself to evaluate crew support systems

[12:05] and operational procedures. This portion

[12:07] of the mission is particularly

[12:09] important. NASA wants to understand how

[12:11] astronauts interact with the vehicle

[12:13] long before anyone attempts an actual

[12:15] lunar landing. Finding problems in Earth

[12:17] orbit is significantly better than

[12:19] discovering them halfway to the moon.

[12:21] After those tests are complete, Orion

[12:23] will separate from the Blue Origin

[12:24] vehicle. And this is where things become

[12:26] even more interesting. Next comes the

[12:29] arrival of SpaceX. A Starship Pathfinder

[12:32] vehicle will launch and rendevous with

[12:34] Orion. The two spacecraft will dock in

[12:36] orbit. However, unlike the Blue Origin

[12:38] phase, this docking period is expected

[12:40] to last only about a day. The focus

[12:43] appears to be verifying docking

[12:44] procedures and basic spacecraft

[12:46] interactions. Once those tests are

[12:48] complete, Orion will separate once

[12:50] again. The astronauts will then return

[12:51] safely to Earth. Their mission will

[12:53] conclude with a splashdown in the

[12:55] Pacific Ocean. Recovery teams from NASA

[12:57] and the US Navy will retrieve both the

[13:00] spacecraft and its crew, and hopefully

[13:02] everyone will return home with enough

[13:04] data to keep engineers busy for years.

[13:06] NASA's latest update also reveals some

[13:09] interesting clues about the vehicles

[13:10] themselves. For example, the Blue Origin

[13:13] Pathfinder appears likely to include

[13:15] life support systems. That makes sense

[13:17] because astronauts are expected to spend

[13:19] multiple days interacting with the

[13:21] spacecraft. As a result, it probably

[13:22] contains hardware similar to what will

[13:24] eventually fly aboard the crude Blue

[13:26] Moon Mark II lander. The SpaceX vehicle

[13:28] appears to be different. Neither NASA's

[13:30] webcast nor the official update

[13:32] mentioned life support systems inside

[13:34] the Starship Pathfinder. Combined with

[13:36] the mission's one-day docking timeline,

[13:38] that suggests the vehicle may function

[13:40] primarily as a docking demonstrator. In

[13:43] other words, it may resemble a standard

[13:44] Starship more closely than a finished

[13:46] lunar lander. Its primary modifications

[13:48] could focus on docking hardware and

[13:50] missionspecific interfaces that would

[13:52] allow SpaceX to test critical systems

[13:54] without needing to complete every

[13:56] feature of the final human landing

[13:58] system version. It's a practical

[14:00] approach. Why build the entire mansion

[14:02] when all you need right now is to test

[14:03] the front door? Of course, announcing a

[14:05] mission plan is one thing. Actually

[14:07] executing it is something else entirely,

[14:09] and every organization involved still

[14:12] has a tremendous amount of work ahead.

[14:14] NASA appears to be making encouraging

[14:16] progress on SLS. Hardware is being

[14:18] transported from facilities in Utah to

[14:20] Florida. Engine testing continues and

[14:22] overall development appears more

[14:24] organized than during previous Artemis

[14:26] preparations. Part of that progress may

[14:28] reflect NASA's growing sense of urgency.

[14:30] The agency knows the schedule is tight

[14:32] and that there is very little room for

[14:34] major delays, especially if it hopes to

[14:36] maintain momentum across the broader

[14:38] Artemis program. Blue Origin faces its

[14:40] own challenges. The company has already

[14:42] revealed parts of its lander Pathfinder,

[14:45] including the docking module, but many

[14:47] critical systems remain out of public

[14:48] view. That's not unusual, as much of the

[14:51] integration work happens behind the

[14:52] scenes. Still, the clock is ticking. The

[14:55] recent new Glenn testing incident has

[14:57] added uncertainty, and repairing

[14:58] infrastructure, validating hardware, and

[15:00] resuming launches will take time. If

[15:02] Blue Origin hopes to keep Artemis

[15:04] schedules intact, progress will need to

[15:06] come quickly. Then there's SpaceX,

[15:08] perhaps the most unpredictable player in

[15:11] the entire program. Neither the Starship

[15:13] Pathfinder nor the operational lunar

[15:15] lander has been publicly unveiled. Based

[15:17] on NASA's plans, they appear to be

[15:19] separate vehicles with the Pathfinder

[15:21] focused on testing and the final lander

[15:23] carrying life support systems and other

[15:25] missionritical hardware. Given SpaceX's

[15:28] development pace, both could appear

[15:29] within the next year. But predicting

[15:31] Starship timelines remains one of

[15:33] aerospace's most dangerous hobbies. Some

[15:35] people collect stamps, space enthusiasts

[15:38] collect revised Starship schedules, and

[15:40] the collection keeps growing.

[15:42] Regardless, NASA's latest announcement

[15:44] offers the clearest picture yet of how

[15:46] Artemis 3 is expected to work. The

[15:48] architecture is incredibly ambitious,

[15:50] requiring multiple companies, spacecraft

[15:53] launches, and an extraordinary amount of

[15:55] coordination. If successful, it'll

[15:57] demonstrate capabilities humanity has

[15:59] never attempted before. And the next

[16:01] year could become one of the most

[16:02] important periods in Artemis history. Do

[16:05] you think NASA can successfully pull off

[16:07] this three rocket Artemis 3

[16:08] architecture? Let me know with Go 3 in

[16:10] the comment section down below. And now,

[16:12] let's turn to our final part of today's

[16:15] news. Amazon and Project Kyper, which

[16:18] recently received an important FCC

[16:20] decision that offers more flexibility,

[16:22] but also comes with new pressure. In

[16:25] simple terms, Amazon no longer faces the

[16:28] immediate July 30th deadline that would

[16:30] have required half of its 3,232

[16:33] planned satellites to be operational.

[16:35] That sounds like a major victory, and in

[16:37] many ways it is. But the situation is

[16:39] more complicated. When the FCC granted

[16:41] the waiver on June 5th, Amazon had

[16:43] launched only 331 satellites, just over

[16:46] 10% of its first generation

[16:48] constellation. The company argued that

[16:50] launch availability, not satellite

[16:52] production, have become the primary

[16:54] bottleneck. Amazon has invested billions

[16:56] in launch contracts and built large

[16:58] numbers of satellites. The challenge has

[17:01] been finding enough rockets to get them

[17:03] into orbit. Amazon still expects to

[17:05] complete deployment by July of 2029, and

[17:08] that deadline remains unchanged. The

[17:10] company says recent delays among its

[17:12] launch providers will not prevent it

[17:13] from meeting the requirement. Those

[17:15] providers include Aryan 6, ULA, Blue

[17:18] Origin, and even SpaceX. I know the

[17:22] irony is quite hard to miss. One of

[17:24] SpaceX's biggest competitors may

[17:27] ultimately need SpaceX's help to deploy

[17:29] its own satellite network. As FCC Space

[17:32] Bureau Chief Jay Schwarz stated, "We

[17:34] find that Amazon LEO has demonstrated

[17:36] special circumstances warranting

[17:38] deviation from the milestone rules." The

[17:40] FCC also emphasized the importance of

[17:43] maintaining competition in the satellite

[17:44] broadband market, whereas Starling

[17:46] currently holds a commanding lead. More

[17:49] competition typically means lower

[17:50] prices, better service, and faster

[17:52] innovation. Amazon did not receive a

[17:54] free pass, however, until at least half

[17:57] of the constellation becomes

[17:58] operational. Newly launched satellites

[18:00] will lose certain priority spectrum

[18:02] protections. That penalty could remain

[18:04] in place until March of 2028, though

[18:07] Amazon may shorten that period by

[18:08] demonstrating faster progress. In other

[18:10] words, the FCC has effectively told

[18:12] Amazon, "We'll give you more time, but

[18:14] we'd like to see some hustle." The

[18:16] decision also increases pressure on

[18:18] Amazon's launch partners. Aryan 6 must

[18:21] raise its launch cadence. Vulcan must

[18:22] enter regular service. Blue Origin must

[18:25] recover from recent setbacks. And if

[18:27] those providers cannot deliver enough

[18:29] capacity, Amazon may need to purchase

[18:31] additional launches from SpaceX.

[18:33] Somewhere, a team of corporate

[18:35] strategists is probably looking at

[18:37] spreadsheets and feeling very

[18:38] conflicted. Because nothing says

[18:40] competitive marketplace quite like

[18:42] paying your biggest rival to help

[18:44] execute your business plan. More

[18:45] broadly, the situation highlights how

[18:47] quickly the space industry is evolving.

[18:49] And Amazon is working to build a serious

[18:51] challenger to Starlink. The result is an

[18:54] industry that is becoming more

[18:55] competitive, more interconnected, and

[18:57] increasingly dependent on partnerships

[18:59] between companies that are also fierce

[19:01] rivals. It's a fascinating moment in

[19:03] aerospace, and the pace of change shows

[19:05] no signs of slowing down. And could

[19:08] Amazon eventually become a serious

[19:09] challenger to Starlink, or is SpaceX

[19:11] already too far ahead? Leave your

[19:13] thoughts in the comments below. I read

[19:15] as many of them as I can, and some of

[19:17] the best discussions on this channel

[19:19] happen down there. That brings us to the

[19:21] end of today's episode. Thank you so

[19:22] much for tuning in. As always, this has

[19:24] been Kevin from Great SpaceX.