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The latest SpaceX prototype of its Starship rocket was destroyed in a landing attempt after a clean launch on Tuesday.
The live broadcast of the company’s flight test froze when the rocket landed, and thick fog around SpaceX’s facilities in Texas made it difficult for witnesses to see what had happened.
The prototype spacecraft serial number 11, or SN11, reached its target altitude of about 10 kilometers, or about 32,800 feet. The rocket is constructed from stainless steel, which represents the earliest versions of the rocket unveiled in 2019. Elon Musk’s company is developing the Starship for the purpose of launching cargoes and people on missions to the Moon and Mars.
Musk tweeted about half an hour after the test that “at least the crater is in the right place!”
“Something big happened shortly after the landing burn started. I should know what it was once we can look at the pieces later today,” Musk said.
SpaceX Senior Integration Engineer John Insprucker noted that the heavy fog in the area prevented the company from showing camera views beyond those on the rocket itself.
“The frozen view we saw on camera doesn’t mean we were waiting for the signal to return; Starship 11 is not coming back. Don’t wait for landing,” Insprucker said. “It looks like we’ve lost all of the vehicle data and the team is of course away from the landing pad so we’ll be there to see what we had.”
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