The FAA closed its study of prototypes eight and nine at SpaceX’s Starship (SN8 and SN9) – which both fell to the ground in massive explosions after flying to incredible heights, and with the investigations now closed , the road is open for SN10 to fly soon.
Tweeting the prospect of a near-term SN10 flight, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted: “has a good chance of flying this week!”
However, a failed prototype does not fail at all. The ambition of Starship SpaceX is unparalleled in aerospace – and with zero deaths, we can’t underestimate the success of even explosive Starships. But will the next one, Starship SN10, bring total success?
FAA dropped SpaceX research, and SN10 could be completely successful
Late January, The edge he announced that SpaceX had breached its startup license when it launched Starship SN8 in December – but an FAA spokesman later said the issue had been resolved, according to tweet from a CNN reporter.
The Sta8hip SN8 explosion crash was triggered by low fuel tank pressure during a fire, as said tweet from Elon Musk. “Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing, causing touchdown speed to be high & RUD, but we got all the data we needed!” – where RUD, Musk means “Rapid Disassembly Unscheduled Disassembly.”
The Starship SN9 ended in the same explosive manner on February 2, but instead of a faulty fuel tank pressure, the Raptor engine was to blame for the crash. “During the landing flip move, none of the Raptor engines took any relief and made SN9 land at high speed and experience RUD,” read an update posted on the SpaceX website.
“The FAA reviewed the SN9 mishap investigation conducted by SpaceX. The SN9 vehicle failed within the confines of the FAA safety inspection. Its unsuccessful trip and explosion did not endanger the public or the building. ” (2/4)
– Jackie Wattles (@jackiewattles) February 19, 2021
Starship SN10 probably doing static fire tests
The FAA investigation found that the crash was serious, stating that Starship SN9 had “failed within the confines of the FAA’s safety analysis,” and that its unsuccessful landing and explosion did not pose a risk to the public. or to the building, ” according to two tweets from an CNN reporter.
It remains to be seen when the Starship SN10 launches. On Monday, SpaceX’s Boca Chica foundation had already begun closing the local highway and beach to prepare for “non-flight test tasks,” which may indicate a static fire test.
SpaceX’s Starship SN10 has a ‘~ 60 percent chance of landing
In tweet February 13, Elon Musk said the probability of success was around 60%. And on Sunday, he tweeted that “[g]ood a chance to fly this week! “
At the same time, NASASpaceflight Reporter BocaChicaGal has followed Starship SN10 on the site closely and this seems to be one of the best ones to keep in your tabs as we approach the next release of the SpaceX prototype. So while we can’t say for sure when the next prototype will take to the skies, or when a fully functional version will go for Mars, at least we have videos of a NASA rover landing on the Red Planet, to keep over us.