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SpaceX’s Starship Prototype Explodes After Test Flight

Published by

December 5, 2024
(GMT+2)

Ellon Musk’s space-transportation company SpaceX exploded its Starship spacecraft almost 8 miles high and maneuvered it back seemingly to a pinpoint landing, but then suffered a spectacular explosion as the vehicle failed to slow down before crashing into the ground.Wednesday’s sequence of events even prompted an elated Mr. Musk firstly posted a message on Twitter that the 16-story Starship prototype executed a key airborne maneuver precisely and made it back to the designated landing area. Checking the craft’s ability to control its direction during descent was one of the major reasons for the flight, the first high-altitude test of the private vehicle built to explore the solar system.But within minutes, after the video feed indicated a fireball at the instant of touchdown, Mr Musk posted a follow-up tweet explaining that low fuel pressure “during the landing burn contributed to the high touchdown velocity and the huge explosion.”

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