A prototype of SpaceX's future Starship rocket crashed on landing on February 2, 2021 (video capture).

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SPACEX

The images are quite impressive.

A prototype rocket from US aerospace company SpaceX crashed on Tuesday on landing during a test flight in Texas, according to images released by the company.

Another prototype of the future Starship rocket had suffered the same fate in December.

Live feed of Starship SN9 flight test → https://t.co/Hs5C53qBxb https://t.co/ioM0D5J91I

- SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 2, 2021

The maneuver to rotate the prototype from the horizontal to vertical position (“belly flop”) went well, but when the main engine re-ignited, the rocket continued to rotate without being able to stay upright, crashing. in a fireball.

"We just need to work a little on the landing"

"We still had an excellent flight," said a SpaceX specialist commenting on the test flight, broadcast live.

We just need to work a little on the landing, ”he added.

The whimsical billionaire Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, has not commented on the event on social networks.

He had announced earlier in the morning his decision to step away from Twitter for a while.

His account has nearly 45 million subscribers.

Starship to go to Mars

After a standoff with the US Federal Aviation Administration, the Starship SN9 prototype was cleared to fly on Tuesday.

The machine took off at 3.30 p.m. local time to reach an altitude of 10 kilometers.

He then turned off his engines and performed a series of horizontal maneuvers.

It was when the rocket tried to regain an upright position that it crashed.

These tests are taking place in a near-deserted area leased by SpaceX in Boca Chica, Cameron County, in the extreme south of Texas near the border with Mexico, on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico - an area empty enough for an accident or an explosion does not cause damage or cause victims.

SpaceX wants to make Starship its rocket of choice to go to Mars one day.

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