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Starship Comes Home to Live Another Few Minutes

SpaceX,Starship,Starbase
Deven Perez
March 4, 20212:00 PM UTC (UTC +0)

Deven Perez for Supercluster

On Wednesday afternoon March 3rd, SpaceX fired off its Starship SN10 prototype from its build site in Boca Chica, Texas on a short but thrilling 10km hop.

"Similar to the high-altitude flight tests of Starship SN8 and SN9, SN10 was powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude," says SpaceX. Starship touched down gracefully on its landing pad after performing a surreal belly-flop maneuver that could only be described as a giant swinging pendulum. Upon the smoke clearing around the landed Starship, space twitter and livestream viewers erupted in celebration.

Minutes later, many joked that SN10 broke the record for the shortest time between re-flights as the massive prototype exploded off its landing pad and into pieces. "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, SN10 experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly shortly after landing" explained SpaceX. Both Starhopper and Boston Dynamic's creepy robot dog are reportedly safe. In the commercial space world "rapid unscheduled disassembly" means "our spaceship exploded."

Elon Musk announced a day before the flight that the entire Starship facility and its surrounding area could end up bearing the name Starbase. Our newly release Starship Prototype Mission patch reflects Elon's proposal.

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez for Supercluster

Deven Perez
March 4, 20212:00 PM UTC (UTC +0)