SpaceX Starship Prototype Explodes After Perfect Landing

SpaceX Starship Prototype Explodes After Perfect Landing

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SpaceX is working on prototype starships as if they were growing on trees. A few weeks after its last rocket exploded after a forced landing, the company managed to land a starship rocket after its test flight. Unfortunately, the ship exploded several minutes later. SpaceX did not speak about the cause of the incident, but it appears to consider the SN10 flight a general success, despite what happened next.

All of SpaceX’s current launch operations are based on Falcon 9, which is certified to transport even astronauts into space. It is also the basis for the company’s Falcon Heavy launch platform. Elon Musk’s future plans require something a little more powerful, which is the Starship. This megarocket will have enough energy to send large payloads to Mars, an essential tool in Musk’s plan to colonize the red planet.

First, the ship has to show that it can take off and land like the Falcon 9. This is essential to SpaceX’s reuse plans. The most recent test features SN10, the tenth piece of hardware for the Starship prototype. The goal was to reach an altitude of about six miles (10 kilometers) before descending for a soft (non-explosive) landing.

At first, everything went perfectly. The Rocket completed its “flip sequence” when the rocket starts its engines and turns to point them down. In the last test, the rocket overcompensated and fell to the ground. This time, the maneuver went smoothly. There is even an incredible telephoto shot of the boat from below as it spun (see above).

Several minutes later, the ship suddenly detonated. The source of the explosion seemed to come from the bottom of the rocket, where the three Raptor engines are located. The force launched SN10 back into the air briefly, but there did not appear to be a secondary explosion when the spacecraft crashed back to Earth. So SpaceX engineers can still learn something from the wreckage.

While SpaceX undoubtedly would have preferred the SN10 not to explode, its Starship tests are still moving in the right direction. Each one does a little better, and the company says that the SN11 is already under construction. After solving the problems of the starship, SpaceX still needs to put the first stage of the Heavy Lift into operation. This will be necessary for long-range missions, such as going to Mars and the Moon.

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