SpaceX was targeting Friday, November 17, at 16:00 CET for the second test launch of its massive Starship rocket. However, there was a change with this plan. “We need to replace a grid fin actuator, so the launch has been postponed until Saturday,” Elon Musk said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).Starship’s second test flight will be on November 18
The grille fin in question is a part of Starship’s Super Heavy first stage that helps the booster return to Earth. SpaceX uses this part in all Falcon rockets. Replacing this flap caused the launch planned for today to be postponed to Saturday, November 18, at 16:00 ET. The launch will take place from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas.
Starship is described as the next generation deep space transportation system developed by SpaceX to take people and cargo to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The vehicle consists of two elements, both designed to be fully and rapidly reusable: the Super Heavy first stage and the 50-meter upper stage spacecraft known as Starship.Together, these two form the largest and most powerful spacecraft ever built. Starship is approximately 122 meters tall when fully stacked. A test flight launched from Starbase, aiming to send the upper stage partially around the Earth, was made on April 20. The vehicle was intended to land in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, but the rocket’s upper stage failed to separate from the Super Heavy and Spacex detonated the rocket over the Gulf of Mexico four minutes after launch.
The objectives of Saturday’s flight are generally the same as those of the April 20 mission. If all goes according to plan, the Super Heavy will make a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico approximately seven minutes after liftoff. The Starship upper stage will approach orbital speed as it makes a partial orbit around our planet. It will land near Hawaii approximately 90 minutes after launch.
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