Starship SN9 took to the air. And then it hit the ground just as spectacularly

After nearly a week of legal scuffles between SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration, Elon Muska’s company has finally been cleared to launch the ninth prototype of its Starship rocket.

As a result, it was possible to perform the long-planned flight to a height of ten kilometers. At 21:30 Polish time on Tuesday, the prototype Starshipa SN9, standing next to the new SN10 prototype, flew into the air to reach its target height of 10 kilometers in less than five minutes.

After turning off the engines, the rocket rolled over and began to freely descend towards the landing field. When she was several hundred meters high, she fired engines that were to bring her back to vertical position. At this point, however, something definitely went wrong and the rocket finally touched the ground very tilted. As a result, the rocket exploded and completely destroyed.

You can watch the entire flight below:

We will certainly learn more about the reasons for the failure in the next few days. One thing is for sure: Elon Musk he will have to thoroughly prepare for the next test in order for the Federal Aviation Administration to issue him another start license.

Isn’t that the price of progress?

Literally moments after the landing / explosion, there were numerous voices that SpaceX really can’t do anything, because it is the second unsuccessful landing of Starship. At this point, we can recall the beginnings of the development of the Falcon 9 rockets, which today fly regularly and reliably into space, carrying both satellites and astronauts there. And it was like this …