The frozen pressure valve delayed the launch of the spacecraft by at least 48 hours, the giant rocket developed by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, which was scheduled to carry out its first test flight yesterday.
“Today’s (yesterday) flight test attempt was canceled; the team is working on the next available opportunity,” the company announced on its official Twitter account.
With a height of 120 meters and a diameter of nine meters, it is the largest and most powerful rocket in the history of aeronautical engineering and was designed to transport satellites, materials and astronauts to the orbits of the Earth, the Moon and Mars. In addition to its massive size, it also stands out for its power, provided by SpaceX’s 33 Raptor engines, which allow up to 150 tons to be sent into space with each launch, according to the company on its website.
The rocket consists of a combination of the 50-meter spacecraft and the 70-meter heavy propellant. Both are designed to be reused.
NASA and other partner space agencies in the Artemis program have signed a contract for a Starship to carry astronauts to the lunar surface starting in 2025.
