It's fairly clear that v2 has some problems and that SpaceX have not got to the bottom of them. It's not clear whether that's a series of small things of which this is (perhaps) the last, or something systemic where solving one problem moves the problem further along the chain.
But on the other hand, this is a test programme and while I'm sure nobody at SpaceX is sanguine about this particular explosion, their philosophy is still leaning towards more-frequent higher-risk tests.
An explosion of this kind with SLS would be a catastrophe for that programme. For Starship it's a setback - but seems very unlikely to derail the programme in the same way. The costs of an individual Starship are dramatically lower than those for an SLS second stage.
The prize that SpaceX are reaching for is full reusability; achieving it would allow them to totally dominate the launch industry for at least a decade. It's worth a few detonations.
I think a lot of commentators are drawing too much pleasure from seeing Musk fail at his hobby (and, fair, he's a total areshole, I'm enjoying that a little too) to put this particular failure in its proper perspective. Now, if they have another failure or two, or particularly if they have similar failures with v3 then it will start to look like they might have a bigger problem - but for now this is just part of the price you pay for rapid iteration.
But on the other hand, this is a test programme and while I'm sure nobody at SpaceX is sanguine about this particular explosion, their philosophy is still leaning towards more-frequent higher-risk tests.
An explosion of this kind with SLS would be a catastrophe for that programme. For Starship it's a setback - but seems very unlikely to derail the programme in the same way. The costs of an individual Starship are dramatically lower than those for an SLS second stage.
The prize that SpaceX are reaching for is full reusability; achieving it would allow them to totally dominate the launch industry for at least a decade. It's worth a few detonations.
I think a lot of commentators are drawing too much pleasure from seeing Musk fail at his hobby (and, fair, he's a total areshole, I'm enjoying that a little too) to put this particular failure in its proper perspective. Now, if they have another failure or two, or particularly if they have similar failures with v3 then it will start to look like they might have a bigger problem - but for now this is just part of the price you pay for rapid iteration.