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SpaceX's Starship launch has slipped by another day, the firm announced on social media moments back. The slip is the third time that the launch has been delayed this week, after an earlier scrub and SpaceX's post-scrub launch date of today. Starship will now launch on Thursday, according to SpaceX. The slip comes as the firm remains busy working with the rockets on its launch pad. Footage from local media shows that the two rockets have been de-stacked, making it unlikely for an attempt today, given the tedious nature of stacking them and testing all systems ahead of an attempt.
SpaceX Continues To Work With Starship Upper Stage Ship In Texas As Launch Slips By Another Day
With less than twelve hours left before today's launch attempt, footage from local media revealed that SpaceX had de-stacked the upper-stage Starship rocket from the booster and started working on it at the launch pad. Simultaneously, flight restrictions for the area were also scrapped, which made it clear that a launch today was unlikely.
To wit, SpaceX's latest update confirms that Starship can now fly tomorrow. The launch window is the same and opens at evening Eastern time. Starship Flight 8 is a high pressure test for SpaceX as the firm should be eager to ensure that its brand new second generation ship successfully completes a flight.
The ship flew for the first time on Flight 7, and it exploded over the Caribbean soon after liftoff. SpaceX's post-launch investigation revealed that a fire in the ship's bottom section led to its engines shutting down. After the Flight 7 mishap, the firm tested the upper-stage ship in an extended duration static fire, which evaluated different engine thrust profiles.
During SpaceX's first Starship Flight 8 launch attempt earlier this week, the upper stage continued to be problematic. Along with the ship, the first stage booster's spin pumps that are necessary to start the Raptor engines did not achieve adequate pressure. As a result, launch was scrubbed, and now, the earliest Starship Flight 8 test attempt will be tomorrow.
Should the rocket launch from Boca Chica, Texas, SpaceX will have a chance to evaluate several features of the new ship. These include a new propulsion system, upgraded avionics, new heat shield tiles and a brand-new forward flap design. Starship Flight 8 will also attempt to launch dummy Starlink satellites and fire a Raptor engine in space.
A successful launch will pave the way for more ambitious test objectives. Two of these are eventually catching the upper stage ship with the launch pad and demonstrating in-space propellant transfer. Both are key to Starship's launch profile and aim of rapid re-usability.
The latter is essential for the firm's multi-billion dollar NASA contract to land the first humans on the Moon through a special Starship variant called HLS. The latter will allow SpaceX to drastically reduce launch costs by reusing an upper stage instead of building a new one for each Starship launch.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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