SpaceX scrubs 10th Starship launch for second consecutive day

STARBASE, TEXAS (ValleyCentral) — SpaceX was slated to launch its 10th Starship rocket from the Boca Chica, Texas launch site Monday evening.

This comes after the original target date of Sunday was scrubbed just moments before the rocket was supposed to take off. SpaceX said it needed more time “to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems.”

This time, weather got in the way as the launch clock was paused just 40 seconds before takeoff for a weather check.

It was at that point the launch team confirmed the clock would be run down to about 10 seconds before the launch would be aborted.

Earlier this weekend, SpaceX stacked its rocket in preparation for launch.

SpaceX has yet to confirm when the launch will be attempted again as of Monday evening.

During the 10th launch, the Super Heavy Booster will attempt several flight experiments while on flight to an offshore landing point in the Gulf and will not return to the launch site for a catch. According to SpaceX, the primary goal for the booster will be focused on its landing burn and engine configurations.

LabPadre Space Channel’s Louis Balderas told Nexstar’s KVEO that as the booster is coming in for landing, SpaceX will be performing some “extreme maneuvers” and “high angles of attack” to see how the booster reacts with the atmosphere as it descends. Additionally, they will be testing its grid fins and want to use fewer engines as it is coming in for “the burn landing” to test how many engines they can lose, to see how well it lands with minimal engine power.

Balderas added that not much has changed on the ship. However, numerous internal configurations have changed from inside the Starship. For example, pressurization lines and other tests are conducted to determine how the vehicle will withstand re-entry heat, following previous testing that revealed some fuel leakage, among other internal changes.