After a mostly successful test flight of the SpaceX spacecraft over Texas on Tuesday, the prototype spacecraft crashed again after landing, similar to another test the company completed last month.
The company planned to test another Starship prototype last week, known as Series No. 9 or SN9, but the Federal Aviation Administration had not yet approved the SpaceX launch required for the flight. On Tuesday they got the green light from the FAA.
SN9 was launched 6 miles from the company’s location in Boca Chica, Texas, a small coastal town on the Gulf of Mexico, north of the Rio Grande.
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The brilliant spacecraft, powered by three Raptor engines, had a smooth flight of up to 10 kilometers and then every engine started to shut down, allowing the SN9 to perform an underbelly maneuver and go down to land.
“The SN9’s Raptor engines will re-ignite when the vehicle attempts a landing flip maneuver just before hitting the landing pad adjacent to the launch pad,” SpaceX said.
SN9 exploded on impact, leaving a cloud of dust.
“We need to do some work on that landing,” SpaceX engineer John Insprucker said after the explosion, recalling that it was a test.
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USA: Starship SN9, a prototype missile of #SpaceX, after a crash on the landing pad during a test in Boca Chica, Texas pic.twitter.com/hoGvvF6RrP
– C5N (@ C5N) February 2, 2021