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Spectators of the SpaceX launch with a charred piece of debris that landed eight kilometers from the test site
Photo: GENE BLEVINS / REUTERS
After several setbacks, another unmanned rocket from the private space company SpaceX crashed during a test.
A prototype of the new "Starship" rocket apparently got out of control when it landed on Tuesday.
SpaceX boss Elon Musk took it on Twitter with humor: "At least the crater is in the right place," he wrote with a view of the targeted landing site.
It appears that one of the rocket's engines had problems.
“Shortly after the landing process started, something important happened.
We should know what it was when we can examine the fragments later «.
SN-11 stands for "serial number 11".
At the beginning of March, the SN-10 landed safely after its test flight - upright, as planned.
But then a few minutes later it went up in flames.
In early February and December, the prototypes SN-9 and SN-8 of the new SpaceX rockets went up in flames during tests.
Once the speed on the approach was too high.
The other time, the rocket had successfully completed a number of maneuvers in a horizontal position, but then hit the test site unchecked when trying to get into a vertical landing position.
The aim of the four tests was a smooth vertical landing of the missile.
For the test flights, SpaceX is using a desert-like site in Boca Chica, Texas, not far from the Mexican border.
Musk hopes that one day the new rocket will take people and cargo to Mars.
In 2023, it should already be used for a circumnavigation of the moon, in which, among other things, the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa wants to participate.
On this occasion, Musk recently assured that the "Starship" rocket would be "safe enough" to transport people in two years.
SpaceX has already established itself in space travel with the Falcon-9 rocket.
In November she completed her first manned mission to the International Space Station.
oka / AFP / dpa