SpaceX Starship explodes on landing during a test
On February 2, SpaceX finally tested its Starship prototype, the SN9, after weeks of delays. The rocket successfully shot to an altitude of 10 kilometres, but the descent of the rocket did not pan out as Mr Musk and co had anticipated. As SN9 approached the landing pad, one of SN9’s engines failed to ignite and the rocket struggled to control its speed.
Once it hit the ground, the spacecraft exploded into a huge ball of flames.
Mr Musk stayed silent regarding the failed launch for a couple of days, but he has now spoken out.
When asked a question by one of his 45.3 million Twitter followers, Mr Musk gave a damning indictment of SpaceX’s performance.
Twitter user MadOverlord asked Mr Musk: “Question: Why only light two engines for landing? Any engine failure means loss of vehicle, so you have two single points of failure.
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“Why not light all three, do the flip, then pick the best two and turn off the other?”
Mr Musk seemed to agree with the point, simply replying: “We were too dumb.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will now conduct an investigation into the explosion.
The regulatory body believes there are serious safety concerns over the Starship – the rocket which could eventually take humans to Mars.
The FAA said: “The FAA’s top priority in regulating commercial space transportation is ensuring that operations are safe, even if there is an anomaly.
“The FAA will oversee the investigation of today’s landing mishap involving the SpaceX Starship SN9 prototype in Boca Chica, Texas.
“Although this was an uncrewed test flight, the investigation will identify the root cause of today’s mishap and possible opportunities to further enhance safety as the program develops.”
The FAA defines a mishap as a “launch or reentry accident, launch or reentry incident, launch site accident, failure to complete a launch or reentry as planned, or an unplanned event or series of events resulting in up to $25,000 (£18,322) worth of damage, a fatality or serious injury”, according to CNN.
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However, SpaceX engineer John Insprucker said, despite the explosion, the future of Starship looks in good health.
He said during the live stream of the launch: “We demonstrated the ability to transition the engines to the landing propellant tanks, the subsonic reentry looked very good and stable.
“We’ve just got to work on that landing a little bit.”
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