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The third time was almost the charm for SpaceX’s latest flight test.
The space company led by Elon Musk on Wednesday conducted a test flight of its SN10 Starship prototype and made a soft landing, although the legs of the landing appeared to be malfunctioning and a fire appeared to ignite as the vehicle landed. A few minutes later, the spacecraft explodes on the landing site.
The test saw the spacecraft fly more than 10 km and maneuver a “belly flop” before landing straight to the right with a slight tilt.
In this image from a video made available by SpaceX, one of the company’s Starship prototypes shoots its drivers as it lands during a test in Boca Chica, Texas, on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. The two previous attempts ended in explosions. (SpaceX via
Musk had a positive response to the test.
“Starship SN10 ended up in one piece,” he tweeted.
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The unmanned flight was SpaceX’s third suborbital test at high altitude for one of its prototype Starship spacecraft. The final test, in early February, ended with the explosion of the SN9 prototype.
The reusable – when not exploding – spacecraft uses an on-board computer to control the descents to a runway. SpaceX had the Starship perform a ‘landing flip maneuver’ before it was touched, and used the Raptor engines again to slow down the descent and land vertically.
Musk broke down an earlier launch effort in a conservative manner with a high push limit. “Increasing thrust and recovery propulsion for another flight effort today.”
The SN10 prototype is powered by three of SpaceX’s Raptor engines.
The Starship is 160 feet long and has a diameter of 30 feet. It is designed to carry both passengers and cargo, and SpaceX says it can carry more than 100 tons per lane.
In this image from a video made available by SpaceX, one of the company’s Starship prototypes shoots its drivers while landing during a test in Boca Chica, Texas, on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. The two previous attempts have ended in explosions. (SpaceX via
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It is one of three spacecraft that NASA has linked to for future lunar missions, and SpaceX said it plans to eventually launch its Starships to Mars. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is becoming one of SpaceX’s first civilian passengers on a mission that will do a lunar flight, according to SpaceX. The flight is currently planned for 2023.
The test flight took place at SpaceX’s plant in Boca Chica, Texas. Musk recently made a personal move to the state of Lone Star, and FOX Business reported this week that SpaceX is adding a third plant in Texas with a factory in Austin.