More engines, more problems
Speaking of that trio of uncooperative Raptor engines, that was just the start. By the time Starship reached its peak altitude of roughly 39 miles (63 kilometers), as many as eight Raptors had either called it quits or simply refused to light in the first place. “The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble,” SpaceX explained in a statement. “The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship.” SpaceX now faces the daunting task of having to make its Raptors more reliable, as having upwards of 24% of its booster engines fail is clearly unacceptable.
