Even though the launch was called off at the final minute on Monday, here is everything you need to know about the new SpaceX Starship rocket system.
While the launch for SpaceX’s new Starship rocket system was canceled earlier today, the space exploration company is planning to retry again this week as it looks to launch one of the most anticipated uncrewed test flights of all time.
The Starship rocket, a longtime project at SpaceX, is the biggest ever built, coming in at 394 feet high. Standing taller than the Statue of Liberty, the company plans to use the rocket to bring astronauts not only to the moon but also to Mars.
In total, the rocket has 33 main engines that provide upwards of 16.7 million pounds of thrust, but maybe the biggest innovation for the rocket is SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s goal to make it reusable.
As NASA looks to venture humans further into space than ever before, the rocket could be a vital tool used to put mankind on another planet for the first time ever. In total, Starship is said to be able to lift as much as 250 tons and 100 people on a trip to Mars.
To make the journey to Mars, SpaceX would look to launch Starship, refuel it in orbit, then travel to the planet.
However, those tests will now have to be put on hold, as Starship did not take off from the Starbase in Texas on Monday as originally planned.
It’s unknown when the rocket will launch, but Musk shared on his Twitter that takeoff was averted due to a “pressurant valve” that, he said, “appears to be frozen.”
“So unless it starts operating soon, no launch today,” he tweeted.
Musk says that the company “learned a lot” from the failed launch and would be looking to retry in “a few days.”
“Success is not what should be expected,” Musk told a private Twitter audience Sunday night before the initial launch. He added that the best thing to do would be to obtain the data needed to learn how Starship ascends to space and how it flies back to Earth.
SpaceX has a launch window set for Tuesday at 7 a.m. However, Starship is going to “recycle,” the process of taking out the super-chilled fuel and preparing for another attempt, which takes at least 48 hours.
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