The SpaceX Mars rocket prototype explodes when it lands, again

The SpaceX Mars rocket prototype explodes when it lands, again

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The rocket’s three engines sparked, shut down and re-lit for landing as planned, but the rocket exploded in a fireball when it returned to the launch pad. It was not immediately clear what went wrong.

sPaceX engineer John Insprucker said in the company’s live broadcast of the event that much of the test flight “looked very good” and engineers were able to gather data to help improve the design of the starship during the flight, which hit about 10 km, or six miles in height.

“We demonstrated the ability to transition from engines to landing propellant tanks, subsonic re-entry looked very good and stable,” said Insprucker. “We just need to work a bit on that level.”

The test launch comes after the prototype 60-meter-high rocket got stuck on its launch pad in Texas over the weekend. He was ready to take off for the test launch last week, but remained grounded because SpaceX violated a public safety agreement it had with federal regulators during a previous test launch, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Starship | SN9 | High altitude flight test
Last Thursday, with Starship SN9 stocked and able to launch at any timet, the FAA issued a surprising statement that said the launch had been deleted.
The FAA, which oversees US airspace and also licenses rocket launches, ordered SpaceX to stop operations at its test facilities in South Texas “which could affect public safety,” the agency said. After refusing to comment on its investigation, which was first reported by The Verge, the FAA said on Tuesday that it concluded this week that SpaceX has taken “corrective measures” and is now complying with public safety rules. The agency did not disclose the nature of the public security problem or what corrective actions were taken.
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The FAA reinstated SpaceX’s authorization to launch its rocket prototypes on Monday night, according to an agency statement.

The company has not responded to requests for comment on this story, nor has it responded to requests for comment in more than eight months.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, who used Twitter to publicly criticize the FAA last week, wrote on Tuesday morning that he would be “Out of Twitter for a while. “

At the root of the split between SpaceX and the FAA was a December SpaceX test launch of a prototype known as Starship SN8, one of a series of prototypes that the company built in its efforts to design a rocket capable of transporting the first humans to Mars. Prior to this launch, SpaceX had “sought a waiver to exceed the maximum public risk permitted by federal security regulations”, according to the FAA, but the agency denied the request.

But SpaceX continued with the test launch anyway, and launched the vehicle in a high-altitude “jump test” that saw it reach the desired altitude and perform a series of aerobatics in the air before it landed explosively on its launch site.

It is not clear whether the FAA would have investigated the company regardless of whether the SN8 landed successfully.

Space X's Mars rocket prototype exploded yesterday. Here's what happened on the flight

The FAA was already focused on reconfiguring its launch licensing process to make it more “simplified”. But it is not clear whether the updated procedures, which are expected to take effect in the near future, would have helped SpaceX quickly obtain authorization to loosen public security restrictions on its launch license.

SpaceX already had another prototype of a starship, SN10, assembled. It is unclear when the company will attempt to launch it, but over the weekend, the company placed the vehicle on a launch pad adjacent to where the SN9 took off.

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