The latest SpaceX prototype exploded into a massive fireball during a plane crash that landed on Tuesday, with a fate similar to that of a previous test rocket.
The Starship steel prototype, serial number 9 (SN9), burned at the end of an altitude test that was successful from Boca Chica, Texas, according to impressive footage of the crash. “We’ve had another great flight again,” the SpaceX announcer said during the online broadcast. “We just have to work a little bit on this landing.”
The rocket launched around three-thirty in the afternoon and flew up to 10 kilometers high, before turning to a horizontal position of “belly flop” and performing a series of maneuvers.
He then tried to land upright, but seemed to arrive too fast and at a bad angle, according to the images.
The flight ended with a deafening roar, which caused an explosion of fire that raised a cloud of dust and flames.
The explosion was similar to that of December, when the company’s SN8 rocket was destroyed.
Both are prototypes developed by the space company Elon Musk, CEO with the hope that someday humans will take the Moon and Mars.
Musk was unusual quiet on Twitter during Tuesday’s flight, after announcing the night before that he was taking a break on the social media platform.
The tech billionaire had tweeted throughout the December flight, even to say the mission was largely a success despite landing.
SpaceX did not comment immediately.
Both are prototypes developed by CEO Elon Musk’s space company in hopes of sending humans on missions to the moon and Mars.