On March 3’ 2021, SpaceX’s SN10 managed to touch down relatively unharmed, also it seemed like the prototype had succeeded to pass its test flight. But, it exploded while it was on its landing pad just a few minutes after touchdown creating a heavy inferno like its forerunners.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is already preparing the SN11 prototype for experimentation, so these trials and explosive errors are on the go. And to prevent it and get the best result out, at last, it’s still working on it.
Elon Musk the CEO of SpaceX has now revealed on Twitter what went wrong, and why it exploded through few Twitter threads.
He said- “the SN10 engine was low on thrust and that was probably due to some partial helium ingestion from fuel header tank. And the impact crushed the rocket’s legs and a part of its skirt”.
We are working on multiple fixes on SpaceX to resolve the issues so that it won’t affect the SN11, the successor of SN10 which has been already developed.
Later on, even Chris Bergin from NASA Spaceflight tweeted- “the issue was a tricky one since the helium ingestion was caused by the pressurization system affixed to the CH4 tank to prevent what caused the SN8 Starship to explode”.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk replied- yes that was a fair point and said that he had approved the change because it sounded good at that time.
Lastly, SpaceX’s Starship is among the heavy-lift launch vehicle that’s going to carry cargo and a human passenger to Earth’s orbit. Even beyond that once developed fully. Notwithstanding SN10 blowing up or exploding, but SN11 will be ready to roll to the Boca Chica facility, the place where it is going to be developed for its fourth high-altitude test and trial launch.
