SpaceX gets clearance to make next attempt to launch powerful Starship rocket on Thursday

The launch of SpaceX's most powerful rocket 'Starship' with Super Heavy rocket booster with 33 engines, was delayed on Monday to April 10, Thursday days after the rocket was given clearance to lift off the ground by the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA]. On April 17, Starship was grounded on its launchpad in South Texas due to the technical malfunction that delayed the vehicle’s historic initial launch attempt. Taking to his official Twitter handle, tech billionaire Musk informed that SpaceX would be retrying the launch of Starship in a few days. 

"A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today," Musk wrote on Twitter, shortly after a notification that the rocket's cryogenic propellant loading was underway, and that the liftoff was happening at the T minus 1 hour. 

Teams are working towards Thursday, April 20 for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket → https://t.co/bG5tsCUanp pic.twitter.com/umcqhJCGai

— SpaceX (@SpaceX)

If super heavy booster suffered malfunction, launch would would have stalled for months: Musk

SpaceX will reattempt the historic launch on Thursday at 8:28 a.m. CT (9:28 a.m. ET) and the window closes at 9:30 a.m. CT. (10:30 a.m. ET). The liftoff will be livestreamed on SpaceX's website, approximately 45 minutes before liftoff. SpaceX's team is working on the practice to run the rocket's successful launch, referred to as a “wet dress rehearsal." The clock that tallies the exact time of the launch was stopped at 40 seconds. SpaceX principal integration engineer John Insprucker was quoted as saying that if the launch had gone forward, the mission controllers of Starship would have gotten the final “go” for launch at the T-30 seconds. SpaceX's historic launch was stalled, after years of explosive tests and the public hype about the rocket. 

Musk commented on the launch delay, saying that “Success is not what should be expected, that would be insane." Tesla boss continued that if the Super Heavy booster suffered intense malfunction such as the blast on the launch pad, it could lead to bigger problems such as the melting of the steel infrastructure. 

“If we get far enough away from launch pad before something goes wrong, then I think I would consider that to be a success,” Musk said during a Twitter “Spaces” talk.. “Just don’t blow up the pad," he added, referring to his team.