I disagree that it is a setback. They landed successfully, which was the goal of the flight. If it was a setback then we could expect to see a big delay and rework before the next flight, which we won't. As much as possible what was learned from this flight will be incorporated into SN11, and the rest into SN12 and beyond. I guarantee that if you asked any of the SpaceX folks if this was a setback, they would probably laugh and instead breathe a sigh of relief. Whatever caused it to exlplode at the end is just likely a plumbing issue considered trivial in the scheme of things....snipped for brevity....
I'm not "down" on the project. But the problems they have had for being zero and three now for intact vehicles, is a setback even for a development program like this.
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When you consider that it only took three flights to nail what is arguably an incredibly complex flight profile using the first ever (production) full-flow staged combustion engine powered rocket, it's hard to call that a setback.
Tony
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