SpaceX Starship test rocket damaged, Elon Musk says may take weeks to repair

Elon Musk-led SpaceX's hit a hurdle when a prototype of SpaceX Starship called test "hopper" fell over and was damaged by high-speed winds in south Texas. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk tweeted about the incident and said it will take a few weeks to repair.

“I just heard. 50 mph winds broke the mooring blocks late last night & fairing was blown over. Will take a few weeks to repair,” confirmed Musk when a Twitter user asked him about the crash. The gusts were powerful enough to break the rocket free of its mooring blocks, knocking it on its side and causing damage. Musk later added that the rocket’s “actual tanks are fine”.

I just heard. 50 mph winds broke the mooring blocks late last night & fairing was blown over. Will take a few weeks to repair.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2019

The repairs will push the space plan deadline. Musk had tweeted on January 5 that the Starship’s test flight will take place in four weeks time. The Space X CEO had also tweeted that the forecast could mean eight weeks due to unforeseen issues. Musk had also shared a post on Twitter with a picture of the Test Flight.

Starship test vehicle under assembly will look similar to this illustration when finished. Operational Starships would obv have windows, etc. pic.twitter.com/D8AJ01mjyR

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 5, 2019

The test hopper isn’t a full-size version of the Starship but a smaller version of it with three engines compared to seven on the main rocket. SpaceX has worked feverishly to build the vehicle since at its facility in southern Texas since late last year. Musk and Gwynne Shotwell, the president of SpaceX, call the ship the "test hopper" because it's not designed to launch to Mars or even into orbit around Earth. Instead, the somewhat crude and windowless ship will rocket on "hops" that go no more than about five kilometres in the air, according to UJS Federal Communications Commission documents.

The prototype is important for SpaceX as the results of the experiments would determine its success and failures and would notify SpaceX on how to work on the main rocket Starship which is an 18-story rocket which would have a capacity to hold 100 people or 150 tonnes of cargo that will be launched to Mars.