This was by far the most complex Starship test flight to date. The results of today’s unprecedented test were surprisingly successful given that Musk has stated multiple times that he only expected a 30% chance of success with all test objectives.
“Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & RUD, but we got all the data we needed! Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!”Musk tweeted. Musk also took to Twitter to state his excitement, as well as the cause for the hard landing and “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” also known as a RUD. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, however, is still thrilled about the test, stating on Twitter: “Successful ascent, switchover to header tanks & precise flap control to landing point!”
#Spacex will hopefully launch starship flight free
The test vehicle then performed a “belly flop maneuver” executing a controlled free fall on its side, leading to the final landing “flip maneuver” to re-orient itself vertically for landing.Īstoundingly, the test appeared to be nearing a perfect ending until the vehicle landed with a much higher velocity than planned, exploding upon impact with the ground. Starship appeared to have an engine shutdown prior to apogee, whether by design or unplanned, before slowing its ascent and hovering at altitude momentarily. Credit: Nicholas D’Alessandro / Spaceflight Insider While the SpaceX Starship SN8 test flight resulted in a loss of vehicle, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that many aspects were nominal and that the test data is of great value.
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