Technical problem on launch pad holds up first flight into Earth’s orbit by Musk’s Starship rocket
SpaceX yesterday postponed the launch attempt of its Starship rocket because of a technical issue.
Starship was meant to blast off on an orbital test flight at 5pm GST from Texas.
But a pressurisation issue on the booster caused engineers to halt the launch attempt. A back-up opportunity is available after 24 and 48 hours.
“A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today,” Elon Musk tweeted.
Mr Musk has been developing the rocket for several years in the hope that it will eventually send humans to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Starship is a two-stage rocket system that includes a booster and a spacecraft.
The rocket has completed high-altitude tests, but has yet to perform an orbital flight.
It is the most powerful launch vehicle developed and will be able to produce 3,991 tonnes of thrust, 15 per cent more than Nasa’s Apollo Moon rocket Saturn V.
SpaceX is contracted by Nasa to develop the Starship Human Landing System to put astronauts on the Moon under the US space agency’s Artemis programme. But Mr Musk’s ultimate goal is to take humans to other planets.
He is working towards sending a million people to Mars by 2050 using his Starship fleet.
He hopes to send the first uncrewed cargo flight to the planet this decade. But his plans are often criticised by experts in the science community, because Mars has a notoriously hostile environment.
Mr Musk has already sold seats on the Starship, including to Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who plans on flying on the first crewed flight to the Moon, taking eight artists with him as part of his dearMoon programme.
American billionaire Jared Isaacman is also working with SpaceX through his Polaris programme, a series of privately led space missions.
He will serve as command er on the first crewed flight on the Starship rocket.
Elon Musk is working towards sending a million people to Mars by 2050 using his Starship fleet