SpaceX's Starship Prototype Potentially Exploded Mid-Air Due To A Likely Engine Failure

SpaceX'south Starship SN11 prototype during its ascent phase earlier today. Paradigm: SpaceX

During a foggy morning in Texas, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) tested its Starship SN11 prototype for the adjacent-generation launch vehicle system that it hopes to apply for lunar, Low World Orbit (LEO) and interplanetary missions. The test, which was initially expected to take place yesterday, did not perform as SpaceX would have expected it to, with the vehicle failing to reignite its Raptor engines later it reached and descended from an altitude of around 10 kilometers.

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The outcome of today's test came as a surprise as during Starship SN11's ascent, the vehicle's Raptor engines seemed to be performing improve than the previous prototypes. Generally, during SpaceX's tests for the SN8, SN9 and SN10, the engines were oft surrounded by flames surrounding them in the engine bay - an occurrence that was absent-minded for most of the time during today's launch.

SN11 took off from SpaceX's testing facilities in Boca Chica Texas at roughly 09:00 local time, with dense fog surrounding it. Its three engines ignited successfully and the vehicle had climbed i kilometer in altitude in roughly 42 seconds. The ascent phase of the test was shine, with Starship continuing to fly to 4 kilometers at the two-minute mark and its first engine shutting down successfully fifteen seconds afterward.

A minute afterwards the vehicle gained another four kilometers and shut down both of its engines, as waited for the third engine to conduct an of import belly-flop. This bomb lies at the centre of Starship'due south flight program, equally the terminal vehicle plans to horizontally reorient itself when entering a planet's atmosphere to expose its heatshield to the temper for absorbing the oestrus of re-entry.

Final moments for the SpaceX'due south Starship SN11 prototype equally its video feed froze during an bibelot during landing. Image: SpaceX

The vehicle reached an distance of 10 kilometers at the four-minute marker and soon afterwards information technology successfully oriented itself horizontally to enter the second stage of the examination. After it glided down for a while, the problem took identify equally Starship tried to either reignite its engines for a landing burn. The vehicle uses ane of its Raptor engines to behave the reverse belly-flop maneuver, with the engine being capable of gimballing to let the vehicle to change orientation and other lighting up seconds subsequently for a landing burn down, as shown during SpaceX's previous Starship test.

Due to the foggy conditions, it's unclear whether the prototype disintegrated during its landing endeavor or whether a propulsion failure caused it to take hold of fire. What is articulate is that pieces of the prototype hit the ground soon afterward SpaceX's feed froze.

As a NASASpaceflight.com observer commented:

It striking the footing. Our photographic camera. . .flight debris and pieces of Starship at that place'due south stuff smoking on the ground in front end of the camera. I switched to it hither we didn't get annihilation from SpaceX. At that place is debris actively raining around the camera, yous can hear information technology on the mic, in that location was uhh....all sorts of pieces, you can see smoking pieces direct in front of the camera right there. That white thing on the basis was non at that place before and there was dirt flight.

As for the reasons behind today's mishap, it's unwise to reach concrete conclusions based on what is known so far. All the same, taking stock of previous tests, which during 1 point or the other saw the Raptor engines either fail to reignite or generate less thrust than required, information technology's clear that SpaceX volition have to piece of work on its propulsion system more before information technology can successfully come across all of its test objectives.

Commenting on the test, SpaceX chief Mr. Elon Musk stated:

Looks like engine ii had problems on rising & didn't reach operating chamber pressure during landing burn down, but, in theory, it wasn't needed. Something significant happened shortly after landing burn showtime. Should know what information technology was in one case we can examine the $.25 afterward today

The sleeping room force per unit area referred to by the executive is the reading for the Raptor engine's combustion sleeping accommodation which needs to accept its fuel and oxidizer mix at the right force per unit area to ensure sufficient thrust.