"SpaceX has seen a series of delays as it seeks to achieve several long-sought milestones essential to the rocket system's reusable design. A liquid oxygen leak at the Starship launchpad nixed a Sunday launch attempt, billionaire Musk wrote on X overnight. Development of SpaceX's next-generation rocket, key to the company's powerful launch business and Musk's goal to send humans to Mars, has faced repeated hiccups this year."
"Musk aims to use Starship to launch larger batches of Starlink satellites, which have so far been deployed by SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, into space. Musk, for his part, remained bullish. In about 6 or 7 years, there will be days where Starship launches more than 24 times in 24 hours, the entrepreneur said on Sunday, replying to a user on X."
SpaceX stood down a planned Starship flight test from its Starbase facility in Texas at the last minute because of adverse weather, delaying the 232ft Super Heavy booster and 171ft Starship upper stage liftoff. A liquid oxygen leak at the launchpad canceled a previous attempt. The next-generation vehicle has experienced multiple failures this year, including early-flight losses, an in-space failure on its ninth flight, and a June test-stand explosion that sent debris into Mexico. NASA targets Starship for a crewed moon landing as soon as 2027, and Starlink deployment plans rely on Starship's increased lift capacity. Elon Musk projects very high launch cadence within several years.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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