SpaceX's Starship SN8 test flight scrubbed at last second: Get new launch window

SpaceX's Starship SN8 prototype was scheduled to have its ambitious test flight from SpaceX's Boca Chica launch site in Texas. However, it now appears that people will have to wait a bit longer to catch a glimpse of the high-altitude lift off. The SN8 was ready to take off at the originally scheduled time, but it had to be scrubbed due to an engine malfunction.

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SpaceX launch abort

The SN8 SpaceX launch was set for 5:30 PM EST; however, it was aborted by the mission control as something unusual was detected with the Raptor engine just 1.3 seconds before the liftoff. 

The aerospace company also held a live stream of the high-altitude test flight on its official YouTube channel. The live stream has been featured below.

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SpaceX Starship launch: New SN8 prototype launch schedule

With the SpaceX Starship SN8 test flight scrubbed for December 9, the next flight could be scheduled for Wednesday, December 10 if the issues with the engines are addressed on time. The launch window is set to run from 9 AM EST and 6 PM EST. The launch could also take place on Thursday, December 11 in case it doesn't happen tomorrow.

The SpaceX SN8 prototype had recently undergone a successful static fire from the company's Boca Chica launch site leading up to the high-altitude test flight from the company.

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SpaceX is building the Starship prototypes to carry cargo and people to distant planets such as the moon, Mars and other destinations. The SN8 test flight is set to be one of the landmark flights for SpaceX. The SN5 and SN6 are two of the company's full-size Starship prototypes which also had the test flights recently.

Both the prototypes flew short-hops and attained an altitude of under 500 feet when they were launched from SpaceX’s Boca Chica test site in Texas. The Starship SN6 prototype performed a 150-meter test in September 2020, while the SN5 prototype had a 150-meter hop test in August the same year. It is also worth mentioning that a number of earlier Starship prototype spacecrafts from the company had encountered some kind of complications or issues which is one of the reasons they weren't able to have a  lot of success. 

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Image credits: SpaceX