updates
Starship SN8 flies and lands hard
On December 9, 2020, SpaceX said SN8 climbed, transitioned to header tanks, and flipped to the landing point, then hit hard because header-tank fuel pressure was low.
Topics: space-civilization starship
This page is an original Muskularity summary. It does not republish SpaceX’s full post. Figures are the company’s statements on the cited date unless another primary link is named.
Summary
SN8 lifted off from the Cameron County pad on December 9, 2020. SpaceX said it climbed, switched propellant, and used its flaps to complete the landing flip at the intended point. Low pressure in the fuel header tank during the landing burn produced a high touchdown speed and a hard landing. The next vehicle named is SN9. The post is short and does not give apogee; later SN9 and SN10 notes describe the same class of flight as about 10 kilometers.
Key facts
| Fact | Label |
|---|---|
| First high-altitude flight in this series, December 9, 2020 | Company flight report |
| Hard landing blamed on low fuel-header pressure | Company flight result |
| SN9 named as the next vehicle | Company plan |
Why it matters
SN8 is the flight that showed the belly-flop and flip, which every later prototype report assumes. The header-tank problem is the specific cause SpaceX gave, distinct from SN9’s missed relight.
On this site
Sources
- SpaceX update, December 9, 2020 — Grade A, company post
- SpaceX flight video linked from the post — Grade A, company video
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