SpaceX’s Starship, the company’s next-generation spacecraft designed for missions to Mars and beyond, experienced a setback during its 7th test launch on Tuesday. The prototype rocket, known as SN11, was launched from the company’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas, but encountered issues during its descent, ultimately resulting in a crash landing.
The test flight appeared to be going smoothly at first, with the rocket successfully reaching its target altitude of 10 kilometers and performing a series of maneuvers before beginning its descent. However, as the rocket attempted to land, viewers watching the live stream of the launch saw a large explosion and debris falling from the sky.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later confirmed on Twitter that the rocket had encountered a problem with one of its engines during the landing sequence, leading to the crash. Despite the setback, Musk remained optimistic about the progress of the Starship program, noting that “we got all the data we needed” from the test flight.
The Starship spacecraft is a key component of SpaceX’s ambitious plans for human space exploration. The company envisions using Starship to transport astronauts to Mars, establish a sustainable human presence on the red planet, and even enable commercial space tourism trips around the Moon.
The recent setback with SN11 is not the first time that SpaceX has encountered challenges during the development of the Starship program. Previous prototypes, including SN8, SN9, and SN10, have also experienced issues during test flights, with some ending in fiery crashes.
Despite these setbacks, SpaceX has continued to make progress with the Starship program, with plans to conduct more test flights in the coming months. The company is currently working on building a new prototype, SN15, which is expected to incorporate lessons learned from previous test flights and improve the rocket’s performance and reliability.
Overall, the recent setback with SN11 highlights the challenges and complexities of developing advanced spaceflight technology. While setbacks are to be expected in the process of innovation and exploration, SpaceX remains committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in space travel and advancing humanity’s journey to the stars.