Update, 3:33 pm ET, March 3: SpaceX attempted to launch SN10 at 3:14 pm ET, but aborted a tenth of a second before takeoff, just after the rockets fired. After a brief assessment, the company said at 3:30 pm Eastern time that it would make another attempt to launch the SN10 about two hours later.
SpaceX looks set to test its tenth starship prototype Wednesday (March 3), despite at least one problem in preparation for launch.
The rocket test called SN10 should see the vehicle fly at an altitude of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) over Boca Chica, Texas, before attempting a vertical landing. The previous two similar tests of SN9 and SN8 ended with explosions after failed landings, as Live Science previously reported.
Watch the NASA Spaceflight stream from Boca Chica here on Live Science.
The test flight was originally scheduled to take place earlier in the day, but preparation for launch has been halted. CNBC reporter Michael Sheetz tweeted that SpaceX will still try to launch on Wednesday. He reported that a ground ventilation valve locked open just when SpaceX was preparing to supply the rocket.
SpaceX is still looking to launch the Starship SN10 today, but it had a vent valve stuck open when the propellant charge was about to start, sources told CNBC. https://t.co/WHniesTJTzMarch 3, 2021
Starship, as Live Science reported, is SpaceX’s long-term project to build a vehicle capable of transporting heavy loads, potentially including various humans and life support systems, into space. The 160-foot (49-meter) high, 30-foot (9-m) machine forms the core of the company’s strategy of placing humans on Mars, although in the short term, the starship is only programmed for use on a spacewalk. around the moon.
So far, the company has not revealed any work systems to clean the air, supply water or otherwise support life on board the ship, has not completed the construction of the Super Heavy Falcon rocket designed to launch the ship into space and has not landed. a ship without incident. However, the company appears committed to the project, expanding its Boca Chica Starship facility (even trying to found a new city called “Starbase” on the spot, according to the local news site CBS4). And SpaceX received a $ 135 million Starship Investment from NASA.
Originally published on Live Science.