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The SN10 spacecraft’s rocket explodes eight minutes after looking like a nail landing, the third prototype to be destroyed.
The third time it seemed to be the charm of Elon Musk’s prototype Starship rocket, until it wasn’t.
The rocket soared into the sky in a high-altitude test Wednesday from Boca Chica in Texas, then flew back to Earth and maneuvered toward its first successful vertical landing.
But the triumph was short-lived.
“A beautiful soft landing,” said a SpaceX commentator during a live broadcast of the test flight, as an automatic fire suppression system trained a stream of water on the flames still burning at the base of the rocket.
About eight minutes later it shattered, staggered in midair, and crashed to the ground.
#Star It randomly landed and exploded a few minutes later.#Elon Musk #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/PqZUjVkMk8
– Brandon #DiamondHands (@ClickThatFollow) March 3, 2021
There was no immediate explanation of what went wrong.
SN10 was the third spacecraft to be destroyed in a fireball, although it came much closer to achieving a safe vertical landing than two previous models: SN8 in December and SN9 in February. SpaceX is developing the rocket to carry people and cargo on future missions to the Moon and Mars.
For Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX who also runs electric carmaker Tesla, the result was mixed news.
This screenshot taken from the SpaceX livestream shows the Starship SN10 prototype as it prepares to land during the day’s second test flight attempt. [Jose Romero/SpaceX via AFP]
In a tweet in response to restrained congratulations from a fan of his work, Musk replied, “RIP SN10, honorable discharge.”
The video feed provided by SpaceX on the company’s YouTube channel was cut off moments after landing. But separate fan broadcasts broadcast by the same social media platform showed an explosion suddenly exploding at the base of the rocket, launching the SN10 into the air before it crashed to the ground and engulfed in flames.
The complete Starship rocket, which will stand 120 meters (394 feet) tall when docked with its super-heavy first-stage booster, is SpaceX’s next-generation fully reusable launch vehicle, the center of Musk’s ambitions to do make human space travel more affordable. and routine.
Starship’s first orbital flight is scheduled for the end of the year.
On Wednesday, Japanese billionaire and online fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa, who paid an undisclosed sum for a trip on the lunar spacecraft SpaceX, invited eight people from around the world to join him.
The Starship tests are taking place in a near-desert area rented by SpaceX in southern Texas, near the border with Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico.
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