OREANDA-NEWS. The prototype of the «Starship SN10» spacecraft, designed for flights to Mars, exploded after testing in Texas, USA. The broadcast was conducted on the night of March 4 on the NASA YouTube channel.

During the day, the launch was delayed due to an engine problem. Later, the tests were resumed. The device rose to an altitude of about 10 km to perform a number of manipulations in the air, in particular, to move the fuel, then re-started the engines and landed. A few minutes after landing, the prototype «SN10» exploded. The cause of the incident have not been reported yet.

The previous two launches of the «Starship» prototype in December and February also ended in explosions, when landing at a test site in Texas. The «Starship SN10» is designed for flights to the Moon and Mars. It can accommodate 100 people and launch more than 100 tons of cargo into low orbit. It's height can be compared to the height of a 16-storey building.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk expects, that the landing of people on the red planet will happen in 2026. Earlier, the businessman said, that he would like to rename the locality of Boca Chica in Texas, where the test site of his company «Space Exploration Technologies Corp» is located.