Space fans walk the dunes as employees prepare the SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy rocket as they struggle to plan one other launch from Starbase after it was scrubbed on April 17, 2023.
Jonathan Newton | Washington Post | Getty’s paintings
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX – Elon Musk’s SpaceX is again attempting to launch its mighty Starship rocket into space after a scrubbing attempt earlier this week.
SpaceX first attempted this launch from the bottom on Monday, however the pressure valve on the Super Heavy booster apparently froze. The corporate’s teams worked to resolve a variety of unidentified issues to permit for a second attempt on Thursday.
Starship’s orbital launch from a personal facility in Texas along the Gulf Coast is the culmination of years of regulatory work and technology testing. SpaceX management has repeatedly emphasized the experimental nature of the launch. The corporate hoped to conduct the primary in-orbit launch of a spacecraft as early as summer 2021, but encountered delays in development and FAA approval, which happened late Friday.
The spacecraft is designed to hold cargo and folks beyond Earth and is central to NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon. Two years ago, SpaceX won a virtually $3 billion contract from NASA to make use of the spacecraft as a crewed lunar lander. This might see Starship used as a part of NASA’s Artemis lunar program, delivering astronauts to the lunar surface from the agency’s SLS rocket and Orion capsule.
Watch the SpaceX live stream below and follow live updates from South Texas.