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Last week, SpaceX successfully landed its reusable Starship rocket after completing a high-altitude flight test, but it then exploded.
Like the SN8 and SN9 siblings that came before it, this version was powered by three engines, each turning off in sequence before reaching apogee, at about six miles of altitude. The vehicle performed as expected, reorienting itself for re-entry and descending to a precise landing at the intended location.
“Starship SN10 landed in one piece,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted at the time, almost wishing something would go wrong. Ten minutes later, something happened. Several reports suggested that a massive fire at the base of the vehicle sent it on a second impromptu trip to heaven.
In a tweet Tuesday, in response to photos that appear to show employees testing the landing legs of the Starship SN11 before its next flight test, Musk revealed that the SN10’s engine “had little thrust due (probably) to ingestion. partial helium from the fuel head tank. “
He also confirmed that the helium ingestion was likely the result of a pressurization system, added to the CH4 header tank to correct an earlier error in the SN8 model. “My fault for passing it,” Musk wrote. “It sounded good at the time.”
That’s the problem with landing on a hard surface like SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch site. “It could land in a big net or a bouncy castle,” Musk proposed in a later post. “It lacks dignity, but it would work.” There are “multiple fixes” in the works for Starship SN11, which recently launched to the Texas launch site and could be ready for take off next week.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last month concluded investigations into a pair of SpaceX Starship tests, including the failed landings of two high-altitude test flights. In early December, SpaceX successfully launched its Starship rocket, which landed back on Earth. Two months later, the company shipped the SN9 miles above the company’s Texas facility, completing another successful flight demonstration that, once again, ended with a fiery explosion of prototype parts.
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