( Spanish) — SpaceX is preparing to try, for the second time this week, to launch the most powerful rocket ever built: the Starship.
Elon Musk’s company tried to launch on Monday, but couldn’t due to a technical problem.
The event has been rescheduled for this Thursday, where there will be a window between 8:28 am CT (9:28 am Miami time) and 9:30 am CT (10:30 am Miami time).
The company will broadcast the launch attempt live on its websitefrom approximately 45 minutes before takeoff.
Why didn’t Starship take off on Monday?
The launch was canceled due to what the SpaceX broadcast said was a pressurization issue.
“A pressurizing valve appears to be frozen so unless it starts working soon, there is no launch today,” tweeted Musk at the time.
The team continued to execute some launch operations and kept the countdown running in a practice known as “wet dress rehearsal” even after making the decision to cancel the launch attempt. Finally, they stopped the countdown clock with 40 seconds left.
It’s common for first-time releases to be delayed as engineers fix issues that may not have been apparent during prior testing.
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, for example, underwent four attempts to complete a wet dress test and two launch attempts before the vehicle finally lifted off in November 2022.
In the run-up to liftoff on Monday, Musk tried to temper expectations, saying: “Success is not what you should expect. … That would be crazy.”
With reporting from ‘s Jackie Wattles.
