SpaceX has postponed the eighth uncrewed test flight of its Starship rocket system. The launch was originally set to take place within a one-hour window starting at 5:30 PM CT from SpaceX’s facilities in South Texas. However, complications arose during the countdown, including an unspecified issue with the Super Heavy booster, leading to the cancellation of the launch. A new date for this attempt has not yet been announced.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk expressed his concerns about the flight on the social media platform X. He mentioned that there were “too many question marks about this flight,” and recommended to “destack, inspect both stages and try again in a day or two.” The Starship spacecraft was only stacked atop the Super Heavy booster on Monday morning, a last-minute assembly that is unusual in the field of rocketry.
Dan Huot, a representative from SpaceX, stated that the company aims to make Starship as agile as possible. “We really want to get to a point where we can fly rapidly, fly as quickly as possible,” he said. Huot also disclosed that SpaceX did not conduct a “wet dress” rehearsal for the vehicle. This ground test usually involves filling the rocket with fuel and simulating the launch, allowing engineers to identify any issues before liftoff.
Read more: What went wrong with SpaceX’s Starship Test Flight 7?
FAA oversight and investigation
The forthcoming launch would mark Starship’s eighth orbital mission and its first since the last test concluded with an explosive midair incident over the Caribbean. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), responsible for overseeing commercial rocket launches, is investigating the incident but had granted SpaceX permission to proceed with Flight 8. The FAA concluded that SpaceX had “met all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements for the suborbital test flight,” despite the ongoing inquiry into the mishap during Flight 7.
The Starship spacecraft, which is poised to launch into space atop a 71-meter-tall rocket booster known as Super Heavy, will ignite its engines and embark on a suborbital trajectory. Approximately 17.5 minutes into the flight, the Starship will attempt, for the first time, to deploy a set of mock Starlink satellites as part of a demonstration. These demo payloads will not reach orbit but will follow a suborbital path similar to that of the spacecraft, ensuring they are disposed of in the ocean.
