SpaceX's Starship rocket lands but then explodes.SpaceX managed to land one of its prototypes in the spacecraft at the end of its high-altitude test flight.
SpaceX's Starship rocket
It landed serial number 10 (SN10) in Boca Chica, Texas - unlike its predecessors SN8 and SN9, which crashed to the ground.
But that was not the end of the story. The next-generation spacecraft is bending heavily on its extended legs.
Then a fire broke out around its base and eight minutes later the SN10 detonated itself on the landing pad.
However, the test will greatly encourage SpaceX. The prototype successfully carried out its onboard maneuvers and was able to make a reasonably soft landing. These milestones will give the company confidence as it moves forward with its ambitious concept.
SpaceX envisions the Starships to replace the existing Falcon rockets.
These vehicles carry out regular missions - both manned and unmanned - for NASA, the US military, and other commercial concerns.
But CEO Elon Musk says the new 50-meter spacecraft will do everything, bigger and better - orbiting satellites and carrying passengers, around Earth and to out-of-world destinations like the moon and Mars.
In fact, he promised a trip to the moon in 2023 to Japanese billionaire online fashion retailer Yusaku Maezawa.
Mr. Maezawa will travel the Starship with eight other individuals, opening the door to applications this week for anyone who might be interested in joining his "dearMoon" project.
The test of higher altitudes continued on Wednesday like the previous model flights.
The unmanned SN10 left the launch base at the Boca Chica R&D facility, and rose vertically to propel three methane-burning Raptor engines.
These power units shut down in sequence as the target altitude of about 10 km (6.2 mi) approached, with the vehicle bending in the horizontal direction to descend to the ground.
This flapper abdominal landing, controlled by large flaps at either end of the vehicle, aims to simulate how future operational spacecraft will return to Earth's atmosphere from orbit, providing a large surface area for the direction of travel to decelerate. .
The car is supposed to switch back to the rear configuration just before hitting the roof.
SN8 and SN9 couldn't manage it. Both cars failed to adopt the correct direction and reduce speed.
However, SN10 got it right, slowing down quickly and laying out a concrete pad. The main contribution to the success was undoubtedly the decision this time to re-light all three Raptors before landing, ensuring that at least two engines were available to provide the thrust needed for braking.
"The third time is magic," said John Innsbrucker, commentator for SpaceX's webcast.
But everything was not perfect. SN10 was tipped. His glittery legs spread out on landing seemed to have collapsed. When the water cannons tried to put out a fire in the base of the car, it suddenly jumped up and exploded.
SpaceX already has other prototypes in various stages of assembly in Boca Chica, up to SN19 currently.
The Starship will eventually be launched on top of a booster called Super Heavy. This is also under construction in Boca Chica.
It would likely contain 28 Raptors, producing more than 70 meg Newtons (16 million pounds) of thrust - about twice the power of the powerful Apollo Saturn 5 rocket, which sent men to the moon.
Upon merging, both parts of SpaceX's new system - Starship and Super Heavy - will stand 120 meters long on the launch pad.
The two components are designed to be completely reusable, which results in driving returns at the end of each job.
SpaceX hopes that Starship will be able to participate in NASA's return to the moon this decade. Starship is currently competing with a number of other airlines to provide a landing system to take astronauts to the surface of the Moon.
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