SpaceX’s Starship SN3 Prototype Collapses in Pressure Tank Test
Elon Musk says a test configuration mistake may be to blame.
By Meghan Bartels

April 2, 2020 – Space.com | SpaceX began testing its newest prototype of a massive Starship vehicle in Texas overnight, and video footage suggests that process did not go smoothly.

SpaceX’s Starship SN3 prototype collapses during cryogenic pressure test on April 3, 2020 at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas facility. (Image credit: SPadre.com)

Starship is the company’s massive spacecraft designed to colonize Mars and tackle other heavy-lift deep-space missions. For about a year now, SpaceX has been building and testing various prototypes of the vehicle, including a miniature Starhopper that flew in August 2019. The latest version, dubbed SN3 (short for Serial No. 3) was scheduled to undergo a series of tests culminating in short, “hopping” flights. But something went wrong in an early test conducted yesterday (April 2).

“We will see what data review says in the morning, but this may have been a test configuration mistake,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a post on Twitter.

“Some valves leaked at cryo temp. Fixing & will retest soon,” Musk added in a follow-up tweet.