10 km Flight
Starship SN10
SpaceX
Mission
10 km Flight
- Type: Test Flight
- Orbit: Suborbital
The SN10 Starship performed a test flight similar to SN8 and SN9. It launched up to an altitude of 10 km or 33,000 ft, did a belly flop maneuver followed by a controlled descent to the landing pad. Despite successfully performing the landing flip maneuver with its three Raptor engines, its vertical velocity was too high on landing, damaging its structure and resulting in an explosive destruction a few minutes after touchdown.
Location
Rocket
Landing
Core SN10
Booster SN10 last launched 03/03/2021 and has seen 0 successful launches and landings. SN10 is a Starship Prototype similar in design to SN9. SN10 was destroyed during an explosion on the pad after landing.
SpaceX Starship Landing Pad – LZ
This is the landing pad used for early Starship development flights.
Return to Launch Site – RTLS
A return to launch site usually means that after stage separation the booster flips and does a burn back towards the launch site, landing near where it initially launched from.
Agency
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.