[THEHILL] SpaceX’s Starship prototype landed for the first time after a high-altitude test flight Wednesday but went kaboom!shortly thereafter.
The prototype, Starship rocket Serial Number 10, was not carrying any passengers or crew at the time of the earth-shattering kaboom, according to CNBC. Two previous test prototypes have went
kaboom!on impact while attempting to land, although after first completing objectives like aerodynamics tests and engine shutdowns.
The SN10 flight successfully fired all of its three engines and shut them down in sequence and was able to slow its engines down enough to land, while the earlier test flights went
kaboom!after they were unable to slow down in time. The cause of the earth-shattering kaboom this time around remains unknown.
"The Texas team has several more suborbital test vehicles in build, with number 11 ready to roll out to the pad in the very near future," SpaceX principal integration engineer John Insprucker said, according to CNBC.