After a test flight of the SpaceX spacecraft over Texas on Tuesday, Texas, the large prototype returned to crash on landing, similar to another test the company completed last month.
The company planned to test another Starship prototype, known as the 9 or SN9 series last week, but the Federal Aviation Administration had not yet approved the SpaceX launch approval required for the flight. On Tuesday, they received approval from the FAA.
SN9 was launched 10 kilometers from the company’s site in Boca Chica, Texas, a small coastal town along the Gulf of Mexico, north of Rio Grande.
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The bright spaceship powered by three Raptor engines had a smooth flight of up to 10 kilometers and then each engine began to stop, allowing the SN9 to perform a navel drop maneuver and head for landing.
“SN9’s Raptor engines will ignite again when the vehicle attempts a landing maneuver just before it reaches the landing platform adjacent to the launch pad,” according to SpaceX.
SN9 exploded on impact, leaving behind a cloud of dust.
“We have to do some work on that landing,” SpaceX engineer John Insprucker said after the explosion, recalling it was a test.
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USA: Starship SN9, a prototype rocket of #SpaceX, after crashing on the landing pad during a test in Boca Chica, Texas pic.twitter.com/hoGvvF6RrP
– C5N (@ C5N) February 2, 2021