On February 27, at 05: 31 EST, the prototype of the flying mouse broke away from the launch table and performed a number of maneuvers while overcoming the apogee. At an altitude of <940 meters from the ground, the mouse re-ignited its engines and immediately moved to an upright position. The maneuver was executed perfectly, but the landing ended with a beautiful explosion. The fact is that when braking up to 20 m/s, the ship had to turn off the central engine to save fuel. However, at a speed of another 40 m/s, the system detected a sudden strong heating in the fuel tank. Because of this, the system tried to save the prototype by turning off one engine needed for landing, thereby removing the heavy load that the system might have thought was critical. We are not disappointed, however, we are looking for the problem of heavy heating of the fuel tank.
You can view a replay of the test by clicking on the image below.
Dumb system. SSTOs are always interesting. If we are gonna go into this world, the problem was probably the engine shroud. The heat from the ground bounced back at the craft, spreading the heat everywhere, causing overheating. Either that, or the engine nozzle is doing something it shouldn’t be doing.