When I dig up the ship building details, I find cheap and again, cheap.
The ship uses barely functional “fuel” for propulsion.
The backup generators use something a little better.
We see the ship lose power - bad fuel.
The lights turn ON - backup generator(s) with the better fuel.
The ship might be a success if it ran on rails - possibly what “the money” that built the thing, was thinking.
“When I dig up the ship building details, I find cheap and again, cheap.”
I suspect that maintenance on the ship was done on the cheap as well.
All that may have just made it a better projectile for its target.
I can’t know with confidence at this point whether it was sabotage/an act of covert war—or just an f-up. And neither can any other Freepers.