The business end of the SpaceX Starship hopper prototype.
Elon Musk/SpaceX
Elon Musk’s Starship rocket prototype, dubbed “Starhopper,” did no hopping on Monday, but SpaceX is setting up to try again Tuesday afternoon.
Monday’s planned Starhopper hop was delayed for two hours, then aborted as the launch clock ticked down to zero and the craft’s single Raptor engine failed to ignite. That means the earliest we might see the hopper’s second and final flight attempt is 2 p.m. PT (4 p.m. Texas time).
Igniters need to be inspected. We will try again tomorrow same time.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 27, 2019
SpaceX started streaming from its test launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, a few minutes before its scheduled launch time Monday, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the company’s YouTube channel Tuesday to get the best view of the hop. In the meantime, local YouTubers like LabPadre have 24-hour live feeds trained on Starhopper:
The Federal Aviation Administration revised SpaceX’s experimental permit for the rocket prototype to fly as high as 150 meters (492 feet) above ground level. The revised permit was signed Friday and posted to the FAA’s website on Monday morning.
That cleared the way for the single-engine version of Musk’s next-generation rocket to take flight once more. Cameron County, Texas, officials have been circulating a notice to local residents advising them to prepare for “space flight activities” this week.
SpaceX had planned to test the single-engine version of its eventual Mars vehicle with its second short flight earlier this month, but the launch was abruptly canceled. Musk later tweeted that the Federal Aviation Administration required a bit more “hazard analysis” and Starhopper “should be clear to fly soon.”
The FAA posted a new airspace closure for the area around the SpaceX test facility beginning Monday afternoon and running through Wednesday night.
With the new permit issued, we could finally see Starhopper make some serious maneuvers. Its last test hop, on July 25, was a short, nighttime 20-meter liftoff, hover and landing that was mostly obscured from view by fire, smoke and darkness.
If this next hop is successful, Musk has said he’ll follow it with a public presentation “hopefully mid-September,” updating us on the design and vision for Starship.
Will probably make sense to do this when Starship Mk 1 has 3 Raptors, moving body fins & landing gear installed, which is hopefully mid September
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 20, 2019
In previous presentations over the past few years, Musk has outlined his plans to use his next-generation heavy launcher (also previously known as BFR or Big Falcon Rocket) to help build a colony on Mars, send a group of artists on a trip around the moon and even provide transcontinental travel on Earth.
But before any of that can happen, Starhopper needs to show it has real hopping chops, hopefully soon.
Watch this:
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Originally published Aug. 22.
Update, Aug 27, 12:06 p.m. PT: Adds information about aborted launch, next earliest launch time.