The SpaceX Starship prototype landed successfully for the first time during testing. But then it exploded
During the next high-altitude tests, SpaceX was able to successfully land a prototype of the Starship spacecraft for the first time, which was a big step in the development of a super-heavy launch vehicle designed to launch cargo and people on missions to the Moon and Mars.
True, eight minutes after a successful and completely soft landing at the test complex in Boca Chica (Texas, USA), the prototype exploded. The cause of the explosion is currently unknown, and it is unknown whether the destruction of the prototype was accidental or deliberate.
The purpose of the tests, we recall, was to launch the prototype to an altitude of 10 kilometers. The SN10 flight today was similar to previous test flights of the previous SN8 and SN9 prototypes, which were launched in December and February, respectively. Previous missiles fulfilled the developers’ design objectives, including aerodynamic tests, sequential engine shutdowns, and an orienteering coup during landing. Still, both exploded on impact on the ground while trying to land, unable to slow down sufficiently.
As in the case of previous tests, the main task of the SN10 flight was not to reach maximum altitude but to test key missile systems. She took off on all three Raptor engines and then shut them off one at a time as it reached the top of the trajectory. SN10 then performed a horizontal flip maneuver for a controlled descent with flaps while free-falling in the atmosphere. In the final part of the tests, the rocket was returned to an upright position, engine braking turned on, and softly landed.
It should be noted that SN10 was able to start only on the second attempt. At the first launch, the computer’s rocket engines were stopped a second after being turned on. SpaceX founder Elon Musk attributed this to incorrect thrust settings. Nevertheless, SpaceX specialists were able to rectify the situation and re-launch two hours later quickly.
Elon Musk shared his joy at the successful landing on Twitter.
As indicated by SpaceX itself, the main purpose of prototype testing was to collect data on the vehicle’s control during re-entry into the atmosphere. Despite the enchanting explosion of a rocket a few minutes after a soft landing, this task was completed.
Starship is one of two key projects that SpaceX is currently pursuing (the Starlink satellite program). As Elon Musk said earlier, this spacecraft’s development program is estimated at $ 5 billion. He remains confident that Starship will be “safe enough to transport people by 2023.” And this is an ambitious goal, given that the company began developing and seriously testing the rocket only at the beginning of 2019.
But it seems that Musk’s schedule is taken quite seriously by many. For example, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa paid for a Starship flight around the moon in 2023. Maezawa announced Tuesday that he is inviting eight people to join his civilian mission, a six-day journey to and from the moon.
