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| WATCH: SpaceX Starship EXPLODES while attempting to land during high-altitude test | WATCH: SpaceX Starship EXPLODES while attempting to land during high-altitude test |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| A SpaceX prototype Starship SN9 has exploded after crashing down on its landing pad during a high-altitude test of the vehicle from the company’s site in southern Texas on Tuesday. | A SpaceX prototype Starship SN9 has exploded after crashing down on its landing pad during a high-altitude test of the vehicle from the company’s site in southern Texas on Tuesday. |
| Ahead of the launch, the company said the Starship would be powered by three of its Raptor engines before they shut off sequentially at a height of 10 kilometers. | |
| The Starship was then due to land back down “under active aerodynamic control” before the engines powered back on to flip it into a vertical position for touch-down. | |
| While the spacecraft appeared to reach altitude without a hitch, something seems to have gone wrong when it attempted to flip back into the upright position, with the vehicle ultimately smashing down onto the landing pad at a tilt. | |
| According to the aerospace firm, the maneuver is a critical element for landing the craft “at destinations across the solar system where prepared surfaces or runways do not exist” before later returning back to Earth. | |
| “This capability will enable 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,” SpaceX said in a statement ahead of Tuesday’s test. | |
| In December, the Starship SN8 exploded on landing after its test flight. | |
| The company is developing the Starships as a vehicle for carrying both humans and cargo on future missions to the moon, Mars and potentially further afield. | |
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