Musk Confirms SpaceX Starship Rocket Launch Delayed This Month

Washington: The SpaceX Starship Super Heavy rocket launch test is now likely to take place later this month instead of this week, the space company’s CEO Elon Musk said on Monday.

SpaceX envisions Starship as a fully reusable transportation system to carry astronauts and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. The rocket is to be launched from SpaceX’s Starbase facilities in Boca Chica, South Texas, in the first launch of the company’s fully stacked 394-foot (120-meter) long Starship rocket system. Fully stacked means that all of its parts are assembled, with the upper stage sitting on top of the booster.

“Starship launch moving toward end of third week of April,” Musk wrote on Twitter a day after it was ready for launch and “awaiting regulatory approval.”

A planning notice posted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on April 4 said the primary expected date of launch was for Monday, but listed backup dates as Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Musk said last week that Starship would be ready for launch this week.

The FAA issued a revised notice on Monday saying the launch could now take place on April 17.

SpaceX still needs to obtain a launch license from the FAA for its first orbital flight test from Boca Chica. One major hurdle remains — the completion of a federal environmental compliance review.

The Starship rocket system consists of a Starship rocket with 33 rocket engines sitting atop a “super heavy” first stage booster. The plan is to deploy Starship into space in the second phase, where it will complete a full orbit of Earth before re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down off the coast of Hawaii. There will also be plans to land the Super Heavy Booster in Texas near the launch site.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)