SpaceX calls off Starship Flight 8 launch test due to rocket issues (video)

[Admin]

SpaceX called off today's (March 3) planned Starship Flight 8 launch after several issues with the vehicle cropped up during the countdown.

SpaceX calls off Starship Flight 8 launch test due to rocket issues (video) : Read more

 

[m4n8tpr8b]

SpaceX didn't specify during its launch webcast what the issues were

Lack of transparency, as usual. I would also be curious how the decision to delay came about (how much interference there was from Elon).

 

[Unclear Engineer]

Lack of transparency, as usual. I would also be curious how the decision to delay came about (how much interference there was from Elon).

Seriously?! Musk did not seem to have any involvement in the launch process. And the announcers specified the various problems were in the booster or the Ship. I expect the actual problem explanation would take a lot of education that the public does not have in order to be usefully understood. So, the various issues are not likely to be something that can be clearly communicated to the public in real time during a countdown. We will probably get some better explanations later, if anybody asks.

I just came to this story to see if the next launch attempt has been scheduled.

 

[m4n8tpr8b]

Seriously?!

Seriously.

If Musk wasn't present and the engineers could decide on their own, that's actually a positive.

I'm sorry but the public consists of people with different levels of expertise and they could very well have given an explanation, like other launchers do. "Various problems both in the booster & the second stage" is not an explanation, it just indicates that there was more than one problem. It is very much of public interest to know what kind of multiple problems could escape attention until shortly before launch.

 

[m4n8tpr8b]

<<Removed by moderator>>

With the amount of fuel on board, if it slams to the ground before burning up most of its fuel, the blast radius would be huge. If it ever blows up on the launch pad, it will demolish everything in a large radius. Read up on the Nedelin disaster; a Starship+Superheavy explosion would be much bigger, the same level as a small nuclear weapon.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

SpaceX has actually given the public much more information, and much faster, than other launchers. For one thing, this is a development process, not the scientific missions that NASA typically showcases. And, we get to see in-flight video of both the booster and the Ship, including flap burn-throughs, etc. NASA does not even have the Starlink capability to do that unless SpaceX provides it for them. And, we see real-time graphics of propellant levels, altitude, velocity, vehicle attitudes, etc.

Complaining that we don't get real-time explanations of every potential hold issue is ridiculous. And, if you were listening to the engineering and launch crews radio coms, you would probably not understand nearly all of the jargon and equipment references, anyway. There will probably be some explanation of the actual cause for the scrub, later. You don't have any reason to get involved in anything else.

As for the blast radius of an on-pad explosion of a fully fueled Super Heavy + StarShip, see the discussion at https://www.quora.com/How-big-would...ueled-StarShip-Super-Heavy-exploded-on-launch . I am not going to get involved in doing those calcs, myself, because I expect that the FAA has already done that, and probably NASA and the Air/Space force for the Florida launch sites.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

To address m4n8tpr8b's complaint about "lack of transparency" and support my belief that SpaceX does typically tell us what goes/went wrong, see:

Elon Musk explains why SpaceX scrubbed Starship Flight 8 - Tesla Oracle

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explains the cause behind the Starship Flight 8 scrub on Monday, 3rd March and announces the new launch schedule.

www.teslaoracle.com

 

[North]

I just came to this story to see if the next launch attempt has been scheduled.

yes it has been it is scheduled to launch today at 12:30 here is were you can watch it

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg1lozrqKlo

 

[Unclear Engineer]

https://www.space.com/space-explora...aft/spacex-starship-flight-8-launch-what-time
Says 6:30 pm 3/6/2025

 

[North]

sorry that is in New Zealand time