Starship Flight 10 will launch in August says SpaceX founder

SpaceX Founder and CEO, Elon Musk, said Starship Flight 10 could launch in August after a devastating blast that destroyed an upper stage on the testing ground.

Last month, SpaceX has been preparing for Starship Flight 10 and in the process, it conducted a new static fire test on the second stage. The ship with serial number 36, already completed a short-duration single-engine burn a week earlier but didn’t survive the six-engine burn on the test stand at Starbase, and exploded as a result of an anomaly.

However, the scenario was different; instead of static fire, the rocket exploded during the propellant loading due to a sudden energetic event. The scale of this blast quickly covered the surroundings of the test stand and harmed all of the important testing structure.

The root cause of the blast is identified as a failure of COPV, or composite overwrapped pressure vessel, a pressurized tank. It contains gaseous nitrogen in Starship’s nosecone area.

SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk said that this was the first time a Starship design has experienced such a flaw, and it will be fixed soon. Prior to this event, SpaceX was expected to fly Starship Flight 10 in late June, but the anomaly has prohibited the rocket maker from doing so.

The next milestone for SpaceX would be to conduct similar static fire tests on a new vehicle. This process might take up to a month to complete, followed by the launch. The Starship Flight 10 has a good opportunity to mark a return for a launch in August. However, we’ll have to wait for an official announcement.

(source)