Story by TIM SULLIVAN
SpaceX is postponing until Tuesday what was to have been Monday afternoon’s attempt to launch a sixth Starship rocket from Boca Chica Beach. SpaceX says the 30-minute launch window will start at 4 p.m. Tuesday. No reason was given for the delay.
The sixth test flight would come just a little more than a month since the last mission, which made history when the rocket’s Super Heavy booster, instead of splashing into the Gulf of Mexico, was maneuvered back to the launch pad and was caught by two robotic arms attached to the launch tower. SpaceX says it will try that again. It will also test some heatshield experiments meant to keep the rocket’s spaceplane intact upon splashdown in the Indian Ocean, which would be another first. That would move the private aeronautics company another step closer to its overall goal of making both the booster and the starship reusable.