SpaceX has completed the fourth major flight test of a Starship rocket, which appears to have ended in a huge explosion once again.
Poor weather conditions at the launch site means it is still unclear what happened, but SpaceX boss Elon Musk said “something significant happened shortly after landing burn start” that resulted in a crater.
The attempt to launch and land a Starship rocket on Tuesday from SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility in Texas came less than four weeks after the last test ended in a fiery explosion.
Previous launch attempts on Friday and Monday were scrubbed – the first due to technical issues, the second as a result of an absent FAA inspector.
All three previous Starship flight test have ended in a “rapid unscheduled disassembly”, as SpaceX puts it, and a successful launch and landing would have been a major step towards realising Musk’s Mars ambitions.
SpaceX posted a live stream of the event a few minutes before it took place.
Elon Musk has just hinted that SpaceX may attempt another Starship launch in a few days.
Local road closures are already in place with Cameron County for Friday, so we could see something then.
Anthony Cuthbertson30 March 2021 14:58
Elon Musk has confirmed the explosion.
“A high production rate solves many ills,” the SpaceX boss tweeted. “At least the crater is in the right place!”
Anthony Cuthbertson30 March 2021 14:39
Replays from NasaSpaceFlight’s footage has shed a bit of light on what happened.
There was a huge flash of light that illuminated the fog, followed by various bits of debris falling to the ground.
Here’s a freeze frame of the largest piece.
(NasaSpaceFlight)
Anthony Cuthbertson30 March 2021 14:35
Still no word from SpaceX. The explosion may have actually occurred before the landing, explaining why the feed cut out.
Anthony Cuthbertson30 March 2021 14:26
The team at NasaSpaceFlight, who have cameras stationed around Boca Chica, say they expect it was an explosion. One of their cameras “definitely took a hit,” they say.
Anthony Cuthbertson30 March 2021 14:18
This is the last view we had of Starship SN11.
(SpaceX)
Anthony Cuthbertson30 March 2021 14:14
SpaceX’s live stream has now ended, but there is still no official word on what actually happened.
Anthony Cuthbertson30 March 2021 14:13
“We do appear to have lost all the data from the vehicle,” SpaceX commentator says.
Anthony Cuthbertson30 March 2021 14:09
SpaceX’s commentator on the official stream describes it as “another exciting test”, but says he doesn’t actually know what happened.
Anthony Cuthbertson30 March 2021 14:09
