The starship's test flight failed, but Musk said that he was satisfied or would change the future human space flight.

On February 9, 65438, the starship test flight of Space Exploration Technology Company failed.

On February 9th, 65438, Space Exploration Technology Company launched the prototype SN8 of Starship for the most complicated flight test to date. After ignition, the spacecraft successfully rose vertically to the height of 1.25 million meters and moved to the scheduled landing area accurately. However, in the end, it crashed into the ground and exploded because it fell too fast. The whole flight took 6 minutes and 42 seconds, and the test flight altitude reached the previous 1000 times.

However, elon musk, CEO of Space Exploration Technology Company, was satisfied with the achievements of the test flight. He said: "The test flight was very successful, and we got all the data we needed."

The prototype of the starship SN8 is 50 meters long and equipped with three Raptor rocket engines. The SN8 of this test flight is unmanned and will simulate the process of returning to Earth from space. It was originally scheduled to ascend vertically to a height of10.5 million meters, and then flip and land.

Previously, the starship completed two low-altitude test flights and is expected to make its first orbital flight in 20021year. According to the plan, space exploration technology company will use starships to send humans to Mars by 2026.

Before the launch of the starship, Musk had poured cold water on everyone, warning that the test flight might go wrong, and the success rate was estimated to be one-third.

However, Musk still has high hopes for this starship and believes that its successful development will bring an unprecedented new future to space exploration technology companies. According to his vision, after the starship is put into use, it will carry people and goods into orbit, which may become a means of transportation for human beings to travel between the earth and the moon and even to Mars.

Musk praised all the staff of Space Exploration Technologies and wrote on Twitter: "Mars, here we come! ! "

Space Exploration Technologies has a starship launch base in Boca Chica, Texas, where it tests a series of prototypes. Their idea is to fly each prototype until it breaks down or even explodes and crashes.

SN8 is the first starship prototype to try to fly to high altitude and suborbital flight. After it rose to the sky, it entered the earth's atmosphere with a horizontal abdomen, and then turned to land at a vertical angle.

Most of the plans for this test flight have been realized. At first, the launch went smoothly and the altitude climbed steadily. Then the SN8 level drops. But when you flip it to a vertical angle, things start to go wrong.

SN8 was too fast when approaching the landing point, and exploded into a ball of fire after landing. Musk explained on Twitter, "When landing, the fuel tank pressure was too low, causing the landing speed to crash too fast."

But this will not affect the starship's next test flight. In fact, Musk is ready to replace other prototypes of SN8.

The starship will eventually be launched by a rocket booster called Super Heavy, with a combined height of118m, and equipped with 28 Raptor engines, which can generate 70 million meganewtons of thrust.

The prototype of the starship is ready for high-altitude test flight.

According to the design, the starship and the "super-heavy" rocket can be reused, so they will return to Earth and land after each mission.

Space Exploration Technologies has used Falcon rockets to transport people and goods for satellite companies, the US Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In June this year, Musk claimed that the starship project was his primary goal in the next stage.

He believes that the concept of starship can change the economics of space flight. The spacecraft can carry more than 100 tons, which means that the spacecraft can not only transport astronauts, satellites and related equipment, supply personnel, but also transport materials for establishing bases on the moon and Mars.

NASA has asked Musk to consider whether it is possible to land an interstellar spacecraft on the surface of the moon in the next few years.

However, Musk's goal is more ambitious. He has publicly stated many times that he will launch a manned spacecraft to Mars within four to six years. This private aerospace giant has always been known for being ambitious and overly optimistic, but it turns out that he can often achieve ambitious goals.