SpaceX's Starship prototype explodes during landing after test launch in Texas

SpaceX's Starship SN8 prototype, which the company hopes will become it's go-to for Mars missions, crashed in a fiery explosion during a test launch on December 9. SpaceX’s live broadcast on Twitter showed the smouldering remains of the rocket at the company’s test site in southern Texas, US. The company described the test of the next-generation spacecraft as “awesome” even though it hit the ground too fast and exploded. 

The spacecraft had lifted off from a launchpad at 5:45pm (EST). After reaching its apogee, it started falling, tipping over in a controlled glide back to Earth. Near the ground, the spacecraft righted itself back to a vertical orientation and fired its three engines to slow down. However, upon impact, just seconds before landing, it disintegrated in a fireball, leaving a cloud of smoke rising over the test site. 

READ: SpaceX's Starship SN8 Test Flight Scrubbed At Last Second: Get New Launch Window

The test of the prototype rocket, however, is considered to be an advance development by SpaceX. Earlier prototypes disintegrated without ever leaving the ground during tests that simply pumped ultra-cold liquid propellants into rocket’s tanks. With its liftoff on Wednesday, SpaceX has become successful in the launch business, and it is now reportedly the world’s most valuable privately held company. 

While taking to Twitter, SpaceX founder Elon Musk also recounted the successful parts of the rocket’s short late afternoon trip. In a series of tweets, Musk said, “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!!” In another tweet, he said, “Successful ascent, switchover to header tanks & precise flap control to landing point!”. 

SpaceX, in a statement on the website, said, “With a test such as this, success is not measured by completion of specific objectives but rather how much we can learn, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship”. 

READ: SpaceX's Starship Test Flight Launch Called-off Due To Engine Failure At T-1 Sec

SpaceX Starship prototypes

SpaceX is building the Starship prototypes to carry cargo and people to distant planets such as the moon, Mars and other destinations. The SN8 test flight is one of the landmark flights for SpaceX. The SN5 and SN6 are two of the company's full-size Starship prototypes which also had the test flights recently.

Both the prototypes flew short-hops and attained an altitude of under 500 feet when they were launched from SpaceX’s Boca Chica test site in Texas. The Starship SN6 prototype performed a 150-meter test in September 2020, while the SN5 prototype had a 150-meter hop test in August the same year. It is also worth mentioning that a number of earlier Starship prototype spacecraft from the company had encountered some kind of complications or issues which is one of the reasons they weren't able to have a  lot of success. 

READ: SpaceX's 1st Crewed Mars Mission Could Launch As Early As 2024, Says Elon Musk

READ: SpaceX Targets A 50,000 Feet Test Flight With Starship SN8 Prototype: How To Watch It?