Hard Landing, On Target, Destroys Starship SN8

It was one of the most remarkable things we've ever seen...

the launch of a SpaceX Starship prototype to 40,000 feet, the repitching to a belly-level descent precision-guided by control surfaces attached to each side, and then a last-minute radical pitch-up followed by reignition of the Raptor rocket engines to a targeted landing... and it came SO close to working this time around. But... the final approach appeared to show problems with getting the engines up to full thrust, followed by what appeared to one or more failures... and the vehicle hit the target ramp at about 70 mph. Flames followed.

According to SpaceX' Elon Musk, "Successful ascent, switchover to header tanks & precise flap control to landing point!" He followed with additional detail, "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!!"

"RUD", by the way, stands for 'Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly' in SpaceX-speak.

The day before this test, SN8 experienced a Raptor engine auto-abort at T-1 second, and the SpaceX team stood down from Tuesday's attempt of a high-altitude suborbital flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8) from their site in Cameron County, Texas.

An additional test opportunity on Wednesday gave SN8 the chance to get some air time and contribute incredible data to the SpaceX effort.

The suborbital flights are designed to test a number of objectives, from how the vehicle’s three Raptor engines perform to the overall aerodynamic entry capabilities of the vehicle (including its body flaps) to how the vehicle manages propellant transition. SN8 also demonstrated a landing flip maneuver -- a first for a vehicle of this size.

SpaceX notes that, '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.'

This past year alone, SpaceX has completed two low-altitude flight tests with Starship SN5 and SN6 and accumulated over 16,000 seconds of run time during 330 ground engine starts, including multiple Starship static fires and four flight tests of the reusable methalox full-flow staged combustion Raptor engine. Additionally, with production accelerating and fidelity increasing, SpaceX has built 10 Starship prototypes. SN9 is almost ready to move to the pad, which now has two active stands for rapid development testing.

SN8’s flight test is seen as an exciting next step in the development of a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. "As we venture into new territory, we continue to appreciate all of the support and encouragement we have received."

FMI: www.spacex.com