As you may recall, Space X’s test launches #7 and #8 both ended in the destruction of the ship over the Caribbean, which was a disappointment.
In flights seven and eight, both explosions occurred at about the same point in the flight, just before the second-stage engines cut off. But the causes were “distinctly different,” SpaceX said in an update last week.
For the seventh flight, SpaceX said that the probable cause was stronger than expected rhythmic oscillations. The vibrations caused leaks of propellant that caught fire.
Fixes intended to damp the vibrations worked during the eighth flight, SpaceX said.
However, during the eighth flight, a flash was seen near the bottom of the second-stage vehicle near one of the center engines. That engine then failed. Three other engines then shut down, and SpaceX lost control of the vehicle about nine and a half minutes after…
