SpaceX director Elon Musk confirmed via Twitter on Tuesday (30.03.2021) that the latest Starship rocket prototype for space travel crashed. “At least the crater is in the right place,” Musk joked as he broke the news. “Something serious must have happened when the landing ignition started,” he added. “You should know that once we can examine the remains later today,” he said. The flight was scheduled for yesterday, but was postponed.
The SN11 is starship’s eleventh prototype, which SpaceX hopes will one day fly on manned missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. It was also the fourth to perform a flight test that tried to return to the ground for a soft vertical landing. The SN8 and SN9, which launched in December and February respectively, crashed on landing and exploded, while the SN10 managed to land apparently successfully, but exploded a few minutes after the test on March 3.
Despite these failures, analysts believe SpaceX is collecting valuable data that can help accelerate the development of their space program. Over time, SpaceX plans to combine the Starship with a Super Heavy rocket, creating a fully reusable equipment. This final version will have a height of 120 meters and will be able to transport 100 metric tons to Earth’s orbit, the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed.
Musk has named the launch and landing area in far southeast Texas, near the Mexican border, Starbase. A few hours after Tuesday’s fiasco, he urged people to move to the area, saying on Twitter that he is looking to hire several thousand people over the next year or two _ engineers, technicians, builders, workers of all kinds. He said he’s also donating millions to the local school district and nearby Brownsville.
