SpaceX Starship’s first integrated flight test launch postponed to tomorrow
Daniel Levi
Posted On April 17, 2023
SpaceX is set to launch the most powerful rocket ever today. Less than an hour from now, Elon Musk’s rocket company will conduct its first integrated test flight for Starship today. The launch was originally scheduled to take off at 9:00 am EDT from Boca Chica, Texas but postponed due to “a pressurant valve appears to be frozen,” Musk said in a tweet.
“A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today”
A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2023
With engines capable of generating 17 million pounds of thrust, the starship is the most powerful rocket ever constructed, designed to transport astronauts to destinations beyond the Moon. Additionally, the starship’s innovative strategy of using reusable launchers could ultimately result in individual flights costing less than $10 million.
Starship is the next-generation rocket being developed by SpaceX to launch cargo and people on missions to the moon and Mars. At the 2020 Mars Society Virtual Convention, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reveals the SpaceX Starship launch plan to Mars by 2024.
“I think we’ve got a fighting chance,” Musk said of making the 2024 Mars transport window. Musk said he hopes to soon use Starship to launch people to the moon and Mars.
