Today, SpaceX is making its second attempt to launch Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.
The space exploration company owned by Elon Musk on Monday canceled its first attempt after it ran into a refueling problem.
A two-stage Starship rocket 400 feet tall, taller than the Statue of Liberty, will be launched from a SpaceX facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Mr. Musk again downplayed expectations for the second attempt, giving the flight a 50/50 chance of success – here’s how to watch it live.
When is SpaceX launching today?
Today’s SpaceX launch is scheduled to run from 8:28 to 9:30 local time, 2:28 to 15:30 in the UK.
However, the company said specific launch dates are “dynamic and subject to change” – “as is the case with all development testing.”
If all goes well, a 90-minute first flight into space is planned, with a stop shortly before Earth orbit.
A successful flight will instantly make the Starship system the most powerful launch vehicle on Earth, and lifting the rocket off the ground will mark a major milestone in SpaceX’s quest to send humans back to the Moon and eventually Mars.
Both the lower-tier Super Heavy launcher and the upper-tier Starship cruise ship that will launch them into space are designed as reusable components.
They will eventually be able to return to Earth for a soft landing, a maneuver that has become commonplace for the smaller SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
However, neither leg will recover after Thursday’s launch — instead, both stages will end their introductory flight into space with a crash landing at sea.
The lower stage will fall into the Gulf of Mexico after separation from the upper stage, which, after entering a near-complete orbit, will fall into the Pacific Ocean.
Why was the first launch of Starship cancelled?
After SpaceX was scheduled for a similar time slot on Monday, April 17, SpaceX aborted the first Starship launch at the eleventh hour.
With only eight minutes left, the test flight was aborted due to a stuck valve needed to pressurize the first stage booster.
The launch controllers were unable to repair the frozen valve in time, but for practice they lowered the clock to 40 seconds before stopping the countdown.
After the flight delay, Musk simply tweeted, “Learned a lot today.”
The Federal Aviation Administration approved the first test flight of the fully assembled missile system last Friday, clearing the final regulatory hurdle ahead of the long-awaited launch.
Prototypes of the Starship cruise ship have made five test flights into space over the past few years at altitudes of 10 km, but the booster has never left the ground.
In February, SpaceX conducted a Super Heavy test launch, firing 31 of 33 engines for about 10 seconds while the rocket was vertically attached to the platform.
Additional agency reports
Source: I News
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