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Starship latest: SpaceX readies rocket for another launch attempt
SpaceX is back on the launchpad Thursday with another attempt to send its Starship system into space in a crucial test of the biggest rocket ever built.
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If successful, the flight will mark a major step in Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s goal to send humans back to the moon and to deep-space destinations including Mars.
But success is far from assured. SpaceX had originally planned to launch the uncrewed test mission April 17 before calling it off about 10 minutes before the scheduled takeoff due to a frozen pressure valve on the rocket.
Engineers have been “working around the clock to fix any lingering issues and get the vehicle ready for flight,” Musk said Wednesday in a tweet.
Starship was conceived to bring people — including NASA astronauts — and cargo such as satellites into Earth’s orbit and beyond.
The rocket is more powerful than any previous crewed spacecraft and taller than the Saturn V, which took humans to the moon.
The launch vehicle system also has been designed to be fully reusable, which SpaceX promises will reduce costs.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., aims to lift off from its facility in Boca Chica, Texas, during a 62-minute window that opens at 8:28 a.m. local time.
It began loading propellant fuel into the launch vehicle at about 7:00 a.m. local time.
After an initial climb to space, the Super Heavy booster rocket is expected to break away from Starship and do a controlled dive into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Starship spacecraft will continue onward and arc through space completing almost a full lap around the Earth. It will then land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii.
Musk has sought to temper expectations for a perfectly successful launch.
“I would like to just set expectations,” Musk said a day before the first attempt during an audio discussion on Twitter. “We get far enough away from the launchpad before something goes wrong, then I think I would consider that to be a success. Just don’t blow up the launchpad.”
SpaceX is livestreaming the launch, the timing of which can change depending on weather conditions and other factors. Bloomberg News is on the ground in South Padre, Texas, roughly 5 miles from the launchpad, and will be following the latest updates over the course of the launch, flight and return. All time stamps reflect US East Coast time.
SpaceX said in a tweet that it started fueling of the Super Heavy booster and followed up six minutes later saying upper stage fueling also was underway.
Read more:
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX set for debut launch of Starship rocket system to space