By MARCIA DUNN | AP Aerospace Writer
Hawthorne-based SpaceX called off its first launch attempt of its giant rocket on Monday, April 17.
Elon Musk and his company had planned to launch the nearly 400-foot Starship rocket from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. SpaceX postponed the launch because of a problem with the first-stage booster.
No people or satellites were aboard for this attempt. There won’t be another try until at least Wednesday.
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The company plans to use Starship to send astronauts and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars.
The company is about to take its most daring leap yet with a round-the-world test flight of its mammoth Starship.
It’s the biggest and mightiest rocket ever built, with the lofty goals of ferrying people to the moon and Mars.
Musk’s company got the OK from the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday., with the rocket awaiting launch jutting almost 400 feet (120 meters) into the South Texas sky.
It will be the first launch with Starship’s two sections together. Early versions of the sci-fi-looking upper stage rocketed several miles into the stratosphere a few years back, crashing four times before finally landing upright in 2021. The towering first-stage rocket booster, dubbed Super Heavy, will soar for the first time.
For this demo, SpaceX won’t attempt any landings of the rocket or the spacecraft. Everything will fall into the sea.
“I’m not saying it will get to orbit, but I am guaranteeing excitement. It won’t be boring,” Musk promised at a Morgan Stanley conference last month. “I think it’s got, I don’t know, hopefully about a 50% chance of reaching orbit.”
Here’s the rundown on Starship’s debut:
SUPERSIZE ROCKET
The stainless steel Starship has 33 main engines and 16.7 million pounds of thrust. All but two of the methane-fueled, first-stage engines ignited during a launch pad…
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