SpaceX Reschedule Starship Test Flight for Thursday After Last-Minute Cancellation

Photo : AFP

SpaceX, the space company owned by Elon Musk, is now planning to launch its massive Starship rocket on Thursday. The test flight was originally set for Monday but was canceled at the last minute. Another attempt was scheduled for Wednesday but got postponed again without any explanation.

This will be the eighth time Starship attempts an orbital mission. All previous flights have been uncrewed, and this will be the first test since its last launch ended in a dramatic mid-air explosion over the Caribbean.

The launch is set to take place from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The launch window will open at 5:30 PM local time (2330 GMT).

Starship: The Future of Space Travel
Starship is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built, standing at 403 feet (123 meters) tall—about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. The rocket is designed to be fully reusable in the future, which is a key part of Musk’s vision for colonizing Mars.

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NASA is also waiting for a modified version of Starship to be used as a lunar lander for its Artemis program. This program aims to send astronauts back to the Moon within this decade.

Why Was Starship Grounded?
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had grounded Starship after its last flight on January 16. During that mission, the upper stage of the rocket broke apart in the sky over the Turks and Caicos Islands, scattering debris and leading to cleanup efforts.

Last Friday, the FAA allowed SpaceX to go ahead with the next test flight, even though the agency has not yet completed its review of the accident.

During Joe Biden’s presidency, Musk has often criticized the FAA for being too strict about safety and environmental rules for SpaceX. Now, as President Donald Trump’s administration takes charge, some critics accuse Musk of having too much influence over government agencies that regulate his companies.

Recently, the FAA has faced controversy over its hiring policies, and a union claims that hundreds of staff members were fired last month.

New Upgrades and Mission Plans
For this upcoming test flight, SpaceX has made several improvements to Starship’s upper stage to make it more reliable and efficient. The mission is expected to last just over an hour.

One of the main goals of this test is to try to catch the booster stage using the launch tower’s special “chopstick” arms. SpaceX has successfully done this twice before, including in the last test flight.

Another experiment in this mission involves deploying Starlink simulators—devices that act like Starlink satellites. However, instead of staying in orbit, they will burn up when they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

For now, SpaceX is not attempting to recover the upper stage of Starship. The rocket will instead land in the Indian Ocean, just off the western coast of Australia, similar to previous test flights.

The Biggest Challenge: Heat Shields
In a recent interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Musk talked about the biggest challenge SpaceX is facing. He said that making a fully reusable orbital heat shield is one of the hardest engineering problems. According to him, no one has ever solved this problem before.

Still, Musk remains confident about the future. He believes that by next year, Starship will be fully reusable and ready for frequent launches. He also said that achieving full reusability is the most important step toward making life possible on multiple planets.

For now, all eyes are on Thursday’s test flight, which will help SpaceX move closer to its goal of revolutionizing space travel.

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