Washington-SANA
SpaceX's Star Ship spacecraft exploded while trying to land after a test launch yesterday from the company's missile facility in Boca Chica, Texas, USA.
"The pressure in the upper fuel tank was low during the descent, causing the speed of the descent to rise, but the company got all the data it needed," SpaceX director Elon Musk was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying after the catastrophic end of the six-minute test.
The Star Ship, which has a height of 16 floors, is a prototype of the Star Ship spacecraft developed by the company and has a height of 160 feet and hopes to be used to transport people and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the moon and Mars.
The first full prototype, 50 meters long and 9 meters in diameter, flew over the Gulf of Mexico after a successful launch and minutes later the vehicle capsized sideways as planned but plunged straight into a free landing to the southeastern tip of Texas near the Mexican border.
The Raptor engines used to brake the vehicle fired and the missile tilted back upright but exploded on landing.