Defence in Space - banner

Starship SN11 disappeared in fog above Texan Starbase

Ignition and take-off of Starship SN11. Photo: Screenshot from the SpaceX launch video

Luxembourg, 31 March 2021. – “Another exciting test”, SpaceX said: Starship SN11 reached ten kilometers altitude, turned round for its descent and then disappeared in the thick fog of South Texas in this fourth high-altitude or “atmospheric” flight test that SpaceX conducted.

Starship SN11 “is not coming back, don’t wait for the landing. We do appear to have lost all data from the vehicle”, SpaceX commented the frozen picture of the live broadcast and has not given details of what happened to Starship SN11 above the Starbase in Texas since.

It is the fourth attempt and the fourth loss of a Starship in four months.

“A controlled aerodynamic descent with body flaps and vertical landing capability, combined with in-space refilling, are critical to landing Starship at destinations across the solar system where prepared surfaces or runways do not exist, and returning to Earth”, SpaceX said when it prepared for the new attempt.

“This capability will enable a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration, interplanetary flights and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.”

SpaceX has not yet announced a new date for the next, fifth Starship flight attempt. 

Check Also

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab Launch Update

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. announced that the company experienced an issue during the launch of its 41st mission. Following lift-off from Launch Complex 1, the rocket successfully completed a first-stage burn and stage separation as planned before it experienced an issue at around T+ 2 minutes and 30 seconds into flight, resulting in the end of the mission. In addition, Rocket Lab's telemetry data, which the company provided during the livestream of Tuesday's launch, showed the velocity of the rocket's upper stage decreasing shortly after its single Rutherford engine was supposed to kick on.