McCullen, Texas (Boundary Report) With 1.3 seconds and the rocket full of fuel, SpaceX stopped the scheduled rocket launch of the SN8 starship prototype at the South Texas Launch Center near Boca Chika Beach.
The 16-story rocket was launched at MST at about 4:35 a.m., but its adapter engine automatically shut down with less than a second left, SpaceX officials said.
A few minutes later, SpaceX announced that it was “daylight” as the FAA window for the launch was sent to expire at 5 p.m.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf83yzzme2I
South Texas has been packed with visitors for the past week as dozens of people come daily to watch the test launch, which has been delayed since Nov. 30.
At 4:10 pm, white steam was seen coming out of the bottom of the rocket, 30 minutes earlier than people around the world expected.
SpaceX is trying to launch a rocket for the highest flight to date, for the first time with side fins and a nose cargo angle. If the mission is successful, it will lift and accelerate with three engines and then reach an altitude of 12.5 km / h or about nine miles, and then perform a wire flop to test aerodynamics before the Raptor engines light up, on a performance-built landing pad.
Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, said on social media that the mission has many variables and that everything will run smoothly in one test run.
Musk tweeted on Monday that he was visiting the launch pad in South Texas for this historic test launch.
The FAA has approved a test launch on Wednesday from 8am to 5pm CST.
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