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SpaceX yesterday conducted a high-altitude test flight of its prototype Starship space vehicle, which ended with the vehicle exploding upon landing.
This prototype Starship is the second stage of a super heavy-lift launch vehicle that SpaceX has been developing since 2012.
It is designed to be completely reusable, and once development is complete, each stage will be able to land safely on Earth once they have completed a flight.
NASA has selected SpaceX’s Starship system as one of three possible options for a manned mission to the Moon in 2024.
The Starship vehicle was launched from a site in Texas shortly after midnight South African time and reached a maximum altitude of 12.5 km over the course of the seven-minute test flight.
The prototype successfully reached its target altitude, and two of its three main engines shut down as it ascended.
All three engines eventually shut down, and SpaceX opted to perform a “bell flop” maneuver when descending.
This saw the rover fall back to Earth in a horizontal orientation and roll over to restart its engines before reaching the landing pad.
However, there were problems when landing, as the vehicle came too fast and exploded impressively upon hitting the ground.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the high-altitude test was successful despite landing problems.
“Successful climb, switch to head tanks and precise flap control to the landing point!” the said on Twitter.
“Fuelhead tank pressure was low during the landing burn, causing touchdown speed to be high and RUD, but we got all the data we needed!”
See the video of the SpaceX spacecraft landing attempt below.
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