Starship SN8 | 12.5-Kilometer Hop | Post Launch Review

Lift Off Time	December 09, 2020 – 22:45 UTC | 16:45 CST
Mission Name	12.5km flight
Launch Provider (What rocket company launched it?)	SpaceX
Customer (Who paid for this?)	SpaceX
Rocket	Starship SN8
Launch Location	Boca Chica Launch Site, Boca Chica, Texas
Payload mass	n/a
Where did the satellite(s) go?	n/a
Did they attempt to recover the first stage?	Yes, unsuccessfully
Where did the first stage land?	The first stage made a hard landing on the landing pad in Boca Chica, Texas, and was destroyed.
Did they be attempting to recover the fairings?	n/a
Were these fairings new?	n/a
How did the weather look?	The weather was acceptable for the launch
This was the:	1st flight of Starship SN8 1st high-altitude flight of a Starship prototype 3rd flight of a Starship prototype 1st flight with a nosecone and aerodynamic control surfaces 1st flight with three engines 3rd flight Starhopper was able to witness 1st flight to demonstrate switchover to header tanks
Where to watch	Official livestream Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut!

What happened?

At 22:45 UTC (16:45 local time), under the power of three Raptor engines, Starship SN8 lifted off from its launch stand in Boca Chica, Texas. At around T+1:40 one of three Raptor engines was intentionally shutdown to decrease loads on the vehicle. A second Raptor engine was shut off at around T+3:10. Raptor SN42 continued propelling SN8 until T+4:40 where it gimballed to help initiate the “bellyflop” flip before shutting off.

Using its RCS thrusters and its flaps, SN8 successfully reoriented itself into a horizontal position and began its slow descent to the landing pad. Throughout the descent, SN8 remained extremely stable and demonstrated its ability to control itself during the skydive using its body flaps.

Following a successful, controlled skydive, SN8 lit two of its Raptor engines as planned and initiated the landing flip in coordination with the flaps. SN8 successfully completed the landing flip and became vertical once again.

Fuel header tank pressure was too low during the landing burn which resulted in the two Raptor engines not receiving enough fuel to land successfully. The engines burned an engine-rich mixture of Raptor and oxygen for the last several seconds of flight. One of the two engines shut down while the other one continued to burn until impact.

Because the remaining engines were unable to produce enough thrust, SN8 landed at a very high velocity which resulted in its destruction. However, the test was still extremely successful as SpaceX was able to complete the vast majority of its test objectives. SN8 achieved many firsts with this test flight and provided SpaceX with all of the data they needed.

What’s next?

The data from SN8’s test flight has provided SpaceX with valuable information and will help pave the way for future Starship flights. In the coming weeks, SpaceX plans on launching its SN9 prototype vehicle on a similar trajectory as SN8.