SpaceX is making a historic landing of the Starship SN10

The prototype SN10 Starship spacecraft managed to land safely. Success.

March 3, SpaceX waited several hours before launching its SN10 prototype in the sky of Boca Chica, South Texas. Mais cette attente a été récompensée: après avoir volé jusqu’à 10 km d’altitude, l’énorme vaisseau a commencé son impressionnante manœuvre de descente, digne d’un film de science-fiction, avant de se redresser et se poser tout doucement on the earth. It’s a unique engineering feat: SpaceX has never been able to move forward yet with spacecraft recovery, which is the cornerstone of the space invasion according to the company.

Previously, The prototypes exploded at launch Or when landing. The previous flight was also widely commented on, as it completed most of the flight’s phases on March 3, but ended in fire due to a landing so fast that it is impossible to slow it down. As if it were a tribute to its older brothers, the SN10 also exploded 8 minutes after landing – but the accident will not be mentioned. It just shows that SpaceX still has to do on these devices, which is not news.

Not necessarily Starship SN10’s mission To stay alive To be accomplished, but to hit the ground with one piece. What he did admirably: We can see him on SpaceX standing for several minutes in a desert environment in Texas.

A big step for the aviation industry

This show of strength is not just a way to show that SpaceX is always ahead of its competitors. It is part of a much longer space exploration project. Because the Starship is not only intended to land on Earth: This maneuver that we see today is, for the company, the best way to land a ship on another planet or on the moon. And to make it start over, low gravity helps.

Moreover, takeoff from Earth will never take this shape on real flights: The spacecraft will be propelled by a massive rocket called Super Heavy, allowing it to tear itself away from Earth’s atmosphere. In Elon Musk’s still very optimistic vision, the Starship could be placed in orbit with a Super Heavy launcher by the end of 2021 and the duo will officially return to space in 2023. Time is tight, but promises beautiful launches in the coming months: To achieve this, SpaceX will double the tests. On the Starship.