SpaceX loses contact with Starship spacecraft during test flight
Minutes after lifting off from south Texas, SpaceX lost contact with its latest Starship vehicle during an unmanned test flight.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX postponed the 10th launch of its Starship on Monday, Aug. 25, due to inclement weather that prevented the rocket from taking off at the Starbase in Texas.
An anvil cloud, an indicator of strong and severe storms, caused the company to turn the planned launch into what it deemed a “wet dress rehearsal,” meaning that all stages prior to ignition had been completed, but liftoff did not occur.
Dan Huot, SpaceX’s communications manager, stated on the launch broadcast that there is a “very good chance” of a launch occurring on Tuesday, Aug. 26.
The 232-foot (71-meter) tall Super Heavy booster and its 171-foot tall Starship upper half – together taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty – remain stacked on a launch mount at SpaceX’s Starbase rocket facilities.
The rocket was filled with millions of pounds of propellant and set to launch when SpaceX, around 8:00 p.m. ET, opted to call off the day’s launch and turn the operation into a launch rehearsal, considering the weather forecast would remain unfavorable throughout the launch window.
SpaceX will try to launch Starship on Tuesday, Aug. 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story.
