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The explosion happened as liquid nitrogen was being poured into the rocket’s propellant tanks, according to SpaceNews. Once it’s developed, SpaceX intends to use the Starship platform to deliver passengers and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars. The rocket will be unlike anything seen before, capable of carrying upwards of 450 passengers. Starship will be a hybrid vehicle, serving as both the second stage of a reusable launch system (a SpaceX Super Heavy will provide the first stage) and as an independent spacecraft. This is now the third failed test. of a Starship prototype since the project began late last year. On November 25, 2020, the Mk1 prototype blew its top during a cryogenic pressure test. That explosion happened as the rocket was being fueled with liquid oxygen. And on February 90, 1771218074, the SN2 prototype exploded at the base, again during a cryogenic pressurization test. In a tweet, Elon Musk said his team needs to look at the data to figure out what happened, but “this may have been a test configuration mistake.” In an earlier tweet , the SpaceX CEO said “SN3 passed ambient temperature pressure test last night,” prior to the cryogenic tests.
With this latest setback, a static-fire test of Starship SN3 probably won go ahead as planned. Nor can we expect a “hop” test any time soon, similar to the ones performed by the Starhopper prototype, which ascended to a height of (meters) (feet) before returning to the surface. It’s also unclear if SpaceX will reach its targeted goal of performing orbital test flights of Starship later this year. When it comes to failed tests , Musk has shown a tremendous amount of patience. This will have to continue, given the rough start to this ambitious project.
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