The SpaceX prototype during a test flight on December 9, 2020. -
Miguel Roberts / AP / SIPA
Only a few weeks after the launch of the SN10 prototype, a device that exploded after its landing, SpaceX will carry out a new test.
It was Elon Musk, the boss of the American space company, who announced it on Twitter this Wednesday, March 17.
An eleventh rocket will launch from its Texas base in Boca Chica.
Everything is almost ready.
A static update remains to be done to measure the good behavior of the rocket called SN11, reports
Numerama
.
The test is therefore imminent.
SN11 almost ready to fly https://t.co/fXmjJZOiKk
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2021
Problems to be solved
The SN11 prototype will bring improvements to the previous prototype which had managed to land after a smooth flight.
SpaceX teams analyzed the landing.
They found that SN10 landed far too quickly due to insufficient engine thrust, causing structural damage.
SN11 should therefore be more successful in this landing.
SN11 will also ship new solutions to solve a problem with the helium used to pressurize the methane tank.
A problem had been identified during the flight of the SN8 rocket but its correction was not satisfactory.
The next mission will send the rocket up again before returning it to Earth.
It will be the fourth of its kind.
Things seem to be improving from shots to shots.
SN8 and SN9 had exploded on landing.
As for the explosion of SN10, it occurred 10 minutes after the rocket landed on the ground.
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