SpaceX launches Starship SN9 prototype to test belly flop re-entry on earth, intended to be a reusable way to land 100 humans on Moon or Mars

Posted by Paul Braren on Feb 2 2021 (updated on Feb 4 2021) in

Today was the second high-altitude test flight of the rather unique looking SpaceX Starship prototype rocket. Its stainless-steel construction is rather unique too, and so is the rapid iteration, all part of SpaceX's determination to lower the cost of spaceflight, in hopes of making humans an interplanetary species. The Starship is also intended to be the second stage on an even bigger booster in the future, but it's already 30 ft / 9 meters wide by 160 ft / 50 meters high!

What you probably didn't know is that Tim Dodd has been hanging out in Boca Chica TX waiting for this launch for a month, and his Tesla Model 3 got wrecked by an ininsured, unlicensed driver while parking along the beach waiting for an earlier, delayed launch attempt. I sure am gladly he's ok, I figure the least you can do is give his video a thumbs-up and subscribe on his Everyday Astronaut YouTube Channel, and or follow him on Twitter. Tim is also on the Our Ludicrous Future podcast that you might also enjoy, see also the Our Ludicrous Future YouTube Channel.

I did a bit of light editing and audio sync correction to some amazing footage from SpaceX and Everyday Astronaut, to make a fun and more concise compilation that is family-friendly, no astronauts or SpaceX staff were harmed in this un-personed test flight.

If watching Tim Dodd's commentary doesn't give you joy, you're dead inside. Just saying.

Enjoy the shows!

TinkerTry's fun compilation:

I'm hoping to be able to publish my highlights video soon, stay tuned, it'll be called "Starship SN9 explosive test flight - highlights of spectacular SpaceX and Everyday Astronaut footage".

Original video footage

These are the 2 sources of all the footage in the planned video above.

Feb 2 2021 - SpaceX - Starship | SN9 | High-Altitude Flight Test

Feb 2 2021 - Everyday Astronaut - Watch SpaceX launch Starship SN9!

I suspect you might enjoy these videos too!

Oct 19 2020 - C-bass Productions - Animated Starship Plumbing Diagram

This one features some incredible gimbled-engine action from an interior butt-cam, and surreal footage of the last seconds before impact, looking straight up at the falling Starship.

Dec 23 2020 - SpaceX - Starship | SN8 | High-Altitude Flight Recap

Feb 2 2021 - Dr. Know-it-all Knows it all - SpaceX Starship SN9 Launch--and crash landing #2!

Feb 06 2018 - TinkerTry|Paul Braren - SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch on Feb. 6 2018 by Paul Braren, viewed from KSC [4K/60fps]. This is my amateur, iPhone 10 Plus footage from KSC viewing area, about 6.7 miles form the launch pad. Sorry it's a little crooked, fixing that degrades the 4K unnaceptably, so I went with sharing the raw footage. My focus was on enjoying the experience of seeing history unfold in person, with my son. I'm sorry I didn't track the flight with my camera.