UPDATE: SpaceX on Monday has canceled the launch of its Starship rocket, citing Stage 1 concerns.
The next chance of a launch will be in roughly 48 hours, SpaceX said.
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It is unclear exactly why the launch was canceled.
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(Original Story)
SpaceX on Monday will try and launch its Starship rocket, a 400-foot-tall rocket that it has spent years developing and is expected to return humans to the lunar surface and one day potentially land the first humans on Mars.
The launch is scheduled for 8 a.m. central time, but it is unclear whether the rocket will actually take off. It could take off anytime between 8 a.m. CT and 9:30 a.m. CT.
The launch, if successful, would reach orbital speeds and travel about 150 miles above Earth’s surface, well into altitudes deemed to be outer space. It’s also expected to be the most powerful rocket ever flown by a wide margin.
Watch Starship’s first integrated flight test → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK https://t.co/4qPqUqo2PP
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 17, 2023
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk however has tried to temper expectations.
“If we get far enough away from the launch pad before something goes wrong, then I think I would consider that a success,” he said during a Twitter “Spaces” event for his subscribers Sunday evening. “There’s a good chance that it gets postponed since we’re going to be pretty careful about this launch.”
Starship is planning to launch from Texas, with locals near South Padre beaches hoping to catch the launch. CNN reports that SpaceX has repeatedly warned those in the area to stay away from a “Keepout Zone” — an area directly surrounding the launch site that is considered too close to the rocket to be safe during its lift-off. The “Keepout Zone” is said to include the coastline south of South Padre Island and stretches inland.
CNN says if all goes well, Starship will go through the atmosphere and complete a partial lap of the planet before finally coming down with a splash near Hawaii.
SpaceX says they do not intend to recover parts of the spacecraft, as it wants the rocket stages to sink to the bottom of the ocean so that no one can retrieve it.
*CNN contributed to this report