Starship a prototype of a SpaceX rocket the company hopes will one day journey to the moon and Mars has exploded in a roaring ball of flames as it tried to land upright after a test flight in Texas.
It was the second such accident after the last prototype of the Starship met a similar fate in December. The Starship SN9, a self-guided, 16-story-tall rocket, initially soared into the clear, blue South Texas sky from its Gulf Coast launch pad on Tuesday, reaching its intended altitude of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), slightly lower than the last one.
Everything seemed to be going well as the spacecraft flipped on its side and began its descent.
It did not manage to straighten itself back up in time for a landing and slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, exploding into bright orange flames and a dust cloud – six minutes and 26 seconds after launch. The fire did not spread.
“We’ve just got to work on that landing a little bit,” said SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker. “Reminder – this is a test flight.”
Stacked progression image of today’s launch and hard landing of #Starship SN9 at #SpaceX’s South Texas launch site!
One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen with my own eyes.
Full gallery + prints: https://t.co/1DmVCj3QlW pic.twitter.com/RoorKvzg6A
— John Kraus 📷🚀 (@johnkrausphotos) February 2, 2021
The company’s next prototype rocket, SN10, stood nearby at the launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.
Insprucker put a positive spin on the crash.
“We demonstrated the ability to transition the engines to the landing propellant tanks,” he said. “The subsonic reentry looked very good and stable like we saw last December, so we’ve got a lot of good data on flap control.”
The company intends to proceed with its next launch “in the near future,” he added.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s space company is developing Starship to carry people to Mars, perhaps in as little as several years. It’s the upper stage of his intended moon- and Mars-ships meant to launch atop a mega-rocket called Super Heavy that is still being developed.
A first orbital Starship flight is planned for year’s end. Musk has said he intends to fly Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa around the moon with the Starship in 2023.