SpaceX has postponed its eighth Starship rocket test launch after encountering technical problems shortly before liftoff. The company will analyze the issues and determine a new launch date. While a launch attempt tomorrow is possible, no official schedule has been set.
SpaceX scrubbed its test launch of its eighth starship rocket on Monday."Standing down from today’s flight test attempt. Starship team is determining the next best available opportunity to fly," SpaceX wrote on X on Monday afternoon.
Moments before the launch, the countdown clock briefly restarted but then was promptly put on hold again as computers detected more issues. SpaceX’s Dan Huot then said the company was going to offload the millions of pounds of propellant on board the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster.The company did not say when SpaceX would attempt the test again. But Huot said it’s possible they will try again tomorrow.The flight was expected to fly the same suborbital trajectory as previous missions and would target objectives not reached on its previous test, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch. The flight would also include the launch, return, and catch of the Super Heavy booster.During the flight test, Starship was expected to deploy four Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites, as the first exercise of a satellite deploy mission.After completing the investigation into the loss of Starship early on its seventh flight test, SpaceX said several hardware and operational changes were made to increase reliability of the upper stage.The company said extensive upgrades to Starship’s upper stage debuted on the previous flight test, focused on adding reliability and performance across all phases of flight.
SPACE EXPLORATION SPACE LAUNCH STARSHIP SPACEX TECHNICAL ISSUES
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