An unmanned space rocket from SpaceX, the space company of Tesla chief Elon Musk, exploded on Wednesday after landing at the Boca Chica launch site in Texas.
Initially, the flights of the vessel - Serial Number 10 (SN10) - seemed to have been successful.
Live feed of Starship SN10 flight test → https://t.co/Hs5C53qBxb https://t.co/Au6GmiyWN8
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 3, 2021
This, however, was not the case.
"As if the flight test was not exciting enough, SN10 experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly shortly after landing," the official website of the project reads. This is accompanied by a video that cuts out before the blast, but does show flames and smoke coming from the base of the craft.
Oof. SN10 has decided to join SN8 and SN9.
Still a great advancement with the landing...#SpaceX #SN10 pic.twitter.com/V891g6KF4Z — Piyush Kashyap (@Kashyappiyush55) March 3, 2021
According to reports, the explosion occurred a few minutes after landing, sending the rocket airborne again and then crashing to the ground.
It was the third time that a test flight with a prototype of the Starship rocket ended in flames. In the previous two test flights in January and February the rockets exploded during the landing attempt.
"All in all a great day for the Starship teams – these test flights are all about improving our understanding and development of a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration interplanetary flights, and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond," the website entry adds.
The Brussels Times
