Shortly after SpaceX’s SN10 starship came down, it seemed that the prototype did not cut it off from its test flight. A minute later the vehicle exploded on its landing pad, however, creating a massive hell like its predecessor. Now, Elon Musk has revealed what went wrong in the replies sent to followers on Twitter. The head of SpaceX stated that “partial helium ingestion may have caused the SN10 engine to drop in pressure. [the] Fuel header tank “and that impact crushes the rocket’s legs and part of its skirt. SpaceX is now working on several fixes for this issue so that it no longer affects the SN10’s successor SN11.
The SN10 engine fuel header was (probably) low on thrust due to partial helium ingestion from the tank. 10 m / s impact of crushed legs and part of skirt. Multiple improvements in work for SN11.
– Elon Musk (elonmusk) March 9, 2021
Chris Bergen of NASA Spaceflight tweeted that the issue is “difficult”, as helium ingestion added to the pressurelization causing the SN8 starship to explode in the CH4 tank. Musk said it was a “reasonable point” and he approved the change because it seemed good at the time.
Reasonable point. If gen togenic pressurelization had been used, the CH4 bubbles would have largely turned into liquids.
Held in helium was used to prevent oleage from slashing, which happened in a previous flight. My fault for approval. It felt good at the time.
– Elon Musk (elonmusk) March 9, 2021
SpaceX’s Starship is a heavy-lift launch vehicle being developed to carry cargo and human passengers into Earth orbit. The explosion of the SN10 won’t slow down the company’s testing efforts – in fact, it recently turned the SN11 prototype into its Boca Chika facility to begin preparations for its fourth high-itude altitude test launch.
