Enlarge / Starship SN10 on the pad on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann)
SpaceX may launch its third full-scale Starship prototype—named Serial Number 10, or SN10—as early as Wednesday from South Texas.
With this vehicle, the company will seek to successfully land the Starship vehicle where the last two versions, SN8 and SN9, each failed in the final seconds of the mission to stabilize themselves for a controlled landing. Both flights ended in fire at the landing site. SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk has estimated about a 60 percent chance of success this time—which suggests the probability is a little bit higher than that, given his penchant for setting expectations.
Similar to the previous two flights, which took place in December and early February, SpaceX will launch its Starship vehicle to an altitude of about 10 km under the power of three Raptor engines. There, it will switch from its main propellant tanks to smaller ones near the top of the vehicle and perform a “belly flop” maneuver, reorienting itself to simulate returning from orbit. This allows Starship to both bleed off velocity as well as ensure its reusability without a massive heat shield.
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