Failed 5 times now: Musk plans to build 20 starship prototypes until he masters the moon landing technology

On December 10, 2020, SpaceX's "Starship" prototype SN-8 was launched for the first time to test the flight control system. During the test, the SN-8 flew to a height of 12.5 kilometers above the ground. In the end, due to fuel problems during the landing process, there was insufficient thrust, the descent speed was too fast, and it crashed to the ground and exploded. Some people think this is a major setback for Musk's manned moon landing plan, but after sorting out the "Starship" series prototype tests, I found that this is not actually the case.

After launch, the "Starship" rose to an altitude of 12.5 kilometers, then adjusted its attitude and returned to the ground.

Any scientific experiment must constantly break through technical barriers, so it cannot be viewed from a fixed point, but must be analyzed from a dynamic perspective. Although this test ended with the "Starship" prototype touching the ground and exploding, overall Musk's manned moon landing plan has been progressing steadily. And before this test, Musk revealed that the success rate was only 1/3. Compared with whether the "Starship" prototype can be saved, it is more important to expose the design flaws of the flight control system through testing.

"Starship" is an ultra-low temperature liquid rocket, and its reusable design can significantly reduce launch costs.

Since November 20, 2019, the "Starship" prototype has undergone test projects such as ultra-low temperature pressure, static ignition, 150-meter jump, and 12.5-kilometer recovery. As the density and technical difficulty of testing become higher and higher, there have been 5 test failures so far. This also shows that five "Starship" prototypes were shattered to pieces during the test. Fortunately, this was only in the prototype testing stage rather than the formal implementation stage. SpaceX seems to have been accustomed to this situation for a long time.

The "Starship" series test schedule is surprisingly dense.

When SpaceX announced the creation of a "starship" for manned landing on the moon and even Mars immigration, Musk had already planned to test it by manufacturing 20 "starship" prototypes in order to master Launch and recovery capabilities of giant rockets. This also directly shows that Musk has long been prepared to blow up the ship 20 times. If he can master the moon landing technology through 20 failures, it will be worthwhile. This is why Musk posted a "celebration" even though the "Starship" prototype was blown to pieces in this test.

The explosion of "Starship" SN-8 was an expected event, and it cannot be considered that the development of the manned moon landing rocket failed.

The construction of SpaceX's SN-9 and SN-10 "Starship" prototypes is now nearing completion, and testing will continue soon. Musk's goal is to launch the first commercial prototype around 2023. Passengers are launched into orbit around the moon. Coincidentally, on December 8, 2020, NASA also announced that it would officially launch the "Althenis" manned lunar landing project. The plan is to send two astronauts, one male and one female ***, to the moon in 2024. . Then on December 10, 2020, NASA announced the selection of 18 astronauts to participate in this project. Riding the "east wind" of commercial aerospace, SpaceX will cooperate with NASA to jointly complete a new round of the United States' manned moon landing program.