SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has finally broken his silence at the Starship SN9 explosion on February 2nd. Responding to a Twitter user, Musk admitted that they were “too stupid” to start just two engines for landing. Elaborating further, he said that next time they will try the “pull up” method.
The second full test flight of its spacecraft X was launched on February 2 and saw SN9 traveling a few kilometers in the air. The vehicle hovered for a moment and then performed a flop-belly maneuver on the descent before making an explosive landing back into the locking device. Subsequent reports claimed that one of the two Raptor engines failed to renew before returning to the ground, which caused the SN9 to travel too fast to make a safe landing.
The question was asked by a Twitter user named “Madoverlord”. In a tweet to Musk, he asked why only two engines were ignited during the landing. “Why don’t you turn on all 3, do the flip, then pick the best two and turn off the other one?” he added. In response, Musk wrote, “We were all too dumb.”
Read: SpaceX’s Starship Prototype Rocket Explodes On Landing, FAA To Supervise Investigation
Read: The second SpaceX flight for the ship test ends with another Kaboom
The FAA will launch an investigation
As the second full-fledged SpaceX test flight of its futuristic bullet-shaped ship ended in another landing fire on February 2, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would oversee an investigation into the incident. Elon Musk’s company launched the latest Southeast Texas prototype Starship two months after the previous test ended in an equally explosive belly flop. The destroyed vehicle, SpaceX’s Starship SN9, was an early prototype for a rocket that the company hopes will transport the first humans to the Red Planet.
On Tuesday, the rocket was launched on a high-altitude test flight and flew a few miles in the air. The vehicle hovered for a moment and then performed a flop-belly maneuver on the descent before making an explosive landing back in the latch. Following the failed launch, the FAA said its top priority in regulating commercial space transportation is to ensure the security of operations, even if there is an anomaly.
Read: Starship SN9 Scrubbed By FAA; Elon Musk brings SN10 instead; Read details
Read: The second SpaceX flight for the ship test ends with another Kaboom