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* FRIDAY MORNING THE STAND HOLDING UP SN9 UP GAVE OUT AND THE ROCKET FELL OVER IN THE HAY BAY * THE STAND HOLDING IT UP GAVE OUT AND IS NOT CLEAR IF SN9 WAS DAMAGED DURING THE EVENT * THE

FALL COMES JUST THREE DAYS AFTER SPACEX LAUNCHED ITS SN8 PROTOTYPE THAT REACHED SOME 41,000FT  * DUE TO ISSUES WITH THE TANK, IT EXPLODED ONCE IT TOUCHED DOWN AND WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED *

CEO ELON MUSK DEEMED IT A SUCCESS BECAUSE IT STILL REACHED ITS GOAL AND COLLECTED A TROVE OF DATA By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 13:21 EDT, 11 December 2020 | Updated:

18:03 EDT, 14 December 2020 SpaceX is not wasting anytime getting the next Starship prototype ready for its first test flight, but the mission is already off to a rough start. Starship

Serial Number 9 (SN9) was erect at the firm's Boca Chia testing facility, towering over the site, but began to lean and eventually collapsed. Reports say that the stand holding up the

craft gave out, but the vehicle assembly building was in place and caught the massive rocket from smashing on the ground. The mishap comes just days after SpaceX’s SN8 prototype completed

its first high-altitude flight of 41,000 feet that ended with exploding once it returned to the ground. Despite SN8 being destroyed, CEO Elon Musk deems it a success because it did reach its

targeted altitude and collected a trove of data along the way -paving the way for SN9 to take its own hop. The new prototype is the second to boast wing tips and nose cone, and appears to

have the same body design as its predecessors.  SpaceX announced it would soon move SN9 to the launch pad shortly after SN8 took flight and according to road closures in Boca Chica, it could

take off sometime next week. However, it is not clear if the latest prototype was damaged when it fell over Friday.  > Seems like the stand SN9 was on COLLAPSED and the only thing that

> saved StarShip from falling over was the highbay, hopefully no one > was hurt or injured!😰🚀 > (Video credit: @LabPadre) pic.twitter.com/qXUPUaUBEr > — Austin Barnard🚀 

(@austinbarnard45) December 11, 2020 'Additionally, with production accelerating and fidelity increasing, SpaceX has built 10 Starship prototypes. S 'N9 is almost ready to move to

the pad, which now has two active stands for rapid development testing,' the firm said following the SN8 launch. SN9, according to Musk, was developed in parallel to SN8 and follow a

theme of 'building successive generations of prototypes' rapidly so they can test and iterate quickly. 'SN8’s flight test is an exciting next step in the development of a

fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond,' SpaceX wrote. The world watched as the 160-foot tall SN8 took

off from the launch pad for its six minute and 40 second flight. The full-scale, stainless steel model stands 160 feet (50 meters) tall and is 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter.  It soared over

the Gulf of Mexico and after about five minutes, it flipped sideways as planned and descended in a free-fall back to the southeastern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. The sideways

flip, dubbed a 'belly flop' maneuver by Musk, was designed to mimic the technique Starship will use when returning through Earth's atmosphere from space - presenting the

'belly' as it enters the atmosphere reduces the speed of descent as it approaches the ground. This 'hop' is a historic event for SpaceX, as previous prototypes only hit

500 feet in the air. But, it also proved the most destructive.  Upon touching down, the craft became engulfed in flames and ruptured, parts scattering. Musk quickly took to Twitter following

the explosion to announce the success and thank his team. 'Successful ascent, switchover to header tanks & precise flap control to landing point!' 'Fuel header tank

pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & RUD, but we got all the data we needed! Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!' The CEO later thanked South

Texas for their support in a separate tweet, followed by another one that says 'Mars, here we come!!' The Starship two-stage-to-orbit heavy lift vehicle has been in development

since 2012 and is designed to bring the cost of launch down by being more reusable.  Although many may see SN8 as a failure, this is not the first prototype SpaceX has exploded for

experimental purposes - or even by pure accident. The firm has lost a total of four prototypes during its journey, and they have all gone up in flames at the Texas testing site.