JAKARTA - Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket company has just faced an accident. The reason is that the Starship rocket prototype exploded during its flight test in Texas.
The prototype rocket serial number 8 or Starship SN8 failed to land after being airborne for a few minutes. The rocket flew from SpaceX's Boca Chica testing facility, Wednesday, December 9, 2020, at 5:45 p.m. ET.
Launching ABC News, Thursday, December 10, the rocket had aired to an altitude of 41,000 feet (12.5 km). The flight lasted about six minutes before the engine died and the SN8 began its journey back to the launch pad.
Unfortunately, when the booster rocket engine was turned on again to aid in landing. The rocket explodes when Starship finally lands, triggering a giant fireball around the test area.
"This suborbital flight is designed to test capabilities, from the performance of the three Raptor engines to the overall aerodynamic capabilities of the rocket to how the vehicle manages propellant transition. The SN8 will also attempt a landing, which will be a first for a rocket of this size," said SpaceX.
Even though it ended up exploding, Elon Musk called the mission a success. Because according to him, the test flight launch of the rocket was considered to have reached the highest point and the most complicated mission ever undertaken by SpaceX.
Musk believes this failure is an important step for the Starship rocket to be able to bring humans to Mars. He believes that the mission can be carried out in 2024.
Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & RUD, but we got all the data we needed! Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah !!
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2020
Although Musk has not disclosed the cost of this event. However, it is known that it costs to build a Starship rocket, SpaceX actually listed a Falcon 9 rocket for 54 million US dollars or approximately (Rp762 billion).
The development of the Starship itself is said to have cost approximately four times that of the Falcon 9 rocket. This means that the estimated total loss from the SN8 explosion is around US $ 216 million or equivalent to Rp. 3 trillion.
So far Starship is the newest prototype of the unmanned rocket being developed by SpaceX. The prototype is a full-scale stainless steel model standing 160 feet (50 meters) high and 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter.
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