{"id":9903,"date":"2025-03-03T21:46:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T13:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-preview-spacex-to-launch-starship-flight-8-following-monday-scrub\/"},"modified":"2025-03-03T21:46:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T13:46:26","slug":"launch-preview-spacex-to-launch-starship-flight-8-following-monday-scrub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-preview-spacex-to-launch-starship-flight-8-following-monday-scrub\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch preview: SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 8 following Monday scrub"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_68905\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-68905\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-68905\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250306_Starship_Flight-8_prelaunch.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250306_Starship_Flight-8_prelaunch.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250306_Starship_Flight-8_prelaunch-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250306_Starship_Flight-8_prelaunch-678x381.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250306_Starship_Flight-8_prelaunch-768x432.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-68905\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Starship rocket stands at the launch tower ahead of the eighth suborbital flight test. Image: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em><strong>Update March 6, 3:50 p.m. EST (2050 UTC): SpaceX is proceeding towards a launch attempt on March 6.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>SpaceX is preparing to launch its Starship rocket from its Starbase facilities in southern Texas following a scrubbed launch attempt on Monday, March 3. The Federal Aviation Administration gave the okay for the company to move forward with the mission on Feb. 26.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, with less than 30 minutes before the planned launch at 5:45 p.m. CST (6:45 p.m. EST, 2345 UTC), commentator Dan Huot noted that engineers were working an issue that might cause a hold at T-40 seconds. That issue did cause a hold to go into place for more than five minutes.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX briefly lifted the hold, but about five seconds later, a new hold was put in place due to issues connected to the Super Heavy booster. Those issues were unable to be resolved and SpaceX called a scrub of the launch.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX is now targeting liftoff on Thursday, March 6, at 5:30 p.m. CST (6:30 p.m. EST, 2330 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have joint live coverage with LabPadre beginning about two hours prior to liftoff.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tUnbnm7OKCw?si=AAl6Nlks0q7oXdU6\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When it launches, the mission will seek to accomplish the objectives set for January\u2019s flight test of the more than 400-foot-tall rocket, dubbed Flight 7, which ended with the destruction of the upper stage over the Turks and Caicos Islands.<\/p>\n<p>The mission will see the launch of the Super Heavy booster, tail number B15, and the Ship upper stage (also referred to simply as Starship), tail number S34. This will be the second time SpaceX attempts the launch of a Block 2 Starship.<\/p>\n<p>As with the previous attempt, the plan is to perform a series of demonstrations with Starship, including the relight of a Raptor engine while in space, the deployment of simulator Starlink Version 3 satellites and a propulsive splashdown in the Indian Ocean a little more than an hour following liftoff.<\/p>\n<p>If conditions are right, Booster 15 will attempt to return to its launch site to be caught by the chopstick arms on the tower known as \u2018Mechazilla.\u2019 If successful, it will be the third catch out of four opportunities. SpaceX waived off a catch attempt during the Flight 6 mission on Nov. 19, 2024, due to a problem on the tower.<\/p>\n<h4>Procedural changes, similar mission<\/h4>\n<p>As is the case up to this point, SpaceX continues to refine both the fueling and mission timelines for its fully integrated Starship rocket as it continues to iterate on the vehicle. This go around, the loading of liquid oxygen on Starhip on both the upper stage and booster are a few seconds earlier each, while the loading of liquid methane shifts later in the timeline by a few seconds.<\/p>\n<p>The launch timeline is virtually identical to that of Flight 7. The biggest shifts are with the payload deployment demonstration and the Raptor in-space relight demonstration, which happen nine and five seconds earlier respectively.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of dramatic changes is explained by SpaceX in that they want to tick the boxes left open after January\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_68531\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-68531\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-68531\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_liftoff_AB.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_liftoff_AB.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_liftoff_AB-300x182.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_liftoff_AB-678x412.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_liftoff_AB-768x466.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-68531\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Starship rocket thunders away from the launch tower at Starbase to begin the Flight 7 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe upcoming flight will fly the same suborbital trajectory as previous missions and will target objectives not reached on the previous test, including Starship\u2019s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch,\u201d SpaceX wrote on its website.<\/p>\n<p>One notable difference is in the number of Starlink simulators that are hitching a ride this time. Flight 7 aimed to deploy 10 of these dummy satellites, but Flight 8 only includes four. The company didn\u2019t state a reason for why it reduced the number.<\/p>\n<p>If SpaceX is able to deploy them on this mission, they are designed to follow the same suborbital trajectory as S34 and burn up in the atmosphere, with any debris falling in the Indian Ocean. Assuming all goes well, this would be the first time that SpaceX deploys a payload from its Starship rocket.<\/p>\n<h4>Fixing what went wrong<\/h4>\n<p>In a lengthy blog post published to its website, SpaceX detailed the issues encountered during January\u2019s Flight 7 mission. Chief among them was the inability to get beyond roughly five minutes into flight without a chain of events causing a loss of communication with S33 and eventually the loss of that stage less than 12 minutes into the mission.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX said it last received telemetry from the vehicle about eight minutes and 20 seconds into the flight. It said communications were gone before any rules were violated that would trigger the Autonomous Flight Safety System, which is also referred to as a Flight Termination System.<\/p>\n<p>The company said it\u2019s post-flight analysis was able to determine that the AFSS did trigger and \u201cbreakup occurred within Flight Termination System expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe most probable root cause for the loss of ship was identified as a harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing, which led to increased stress on hardware in the propulsion system,\u201d SpaceX wrote. \u201cThe subsequent propellant leaks exceeded the venting capability of the ship\u2019s attic area and resulted in sustained fires.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_68528\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-68528\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-68528\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_Flight_7_breakup.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"510\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_Flight_7_breakup.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_Flight_7_breakup-300x175.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_Flight_7_breakup-678x395.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250116_Starship_Flight_7_breakup-768x447.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-68528\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A still image taken from video of what is reportedly the remnants of SpaceX\u2019s Starship upper stage as seen from the vantage point of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Image: Alex Davenport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did clear SpaceX to proceed with the launch of the Flight 8 mission through what it called \u201cthe required and comprehensive safety review,\u201d it did note in its statement dated Feb. 26 that the Starship Flight 7 mishap investigation remains ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX stated in its blog post that it was working to either close the investigation prior to the launch of Flight 8 or receive a flight safety determination. The FAA describes this as an evaluation by the agency into the circumstances of the anomaly, a rocket\u2019s safety-critical systems and other environmental factors.<\/p>\n<p>A similar determination was made on July 25, 2024, which allowed for the return to flight of the Falcon 9 rocket, following the July 11 upper stage mishap seen during the Starlink 9-3 mission.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the Flight 7 mishap, SpaceX enacted changes, like adding a new nitrogen purge system and additional vents to help deter the likelihood of another fire in the so-called attic of Starship. The attic is a name for the aft section of the vehicle where there is an unpressurized space between the aft heat shield and the bottom of the liquid oxygen tank.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX said future versions of Starship will use the Raptor 3 engine, which it said will help by \u201creducing the attic volume and eliminating the majority of joints that can leak into this volume.\u201d SpaceX hasn\u2019t said how soon it intends to roll out a Starship with that new engine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs part of the investigation, an extended duration static fire was completed with the Starship flying on the eighth flight test,\u201d SpaceX wrote. \u201cThe 60-second firing was used to test multiple engine thrust levels and three separate hardware configurations in the Raptor vacuum engine feedlines to recreate and address the harmonic response seen during Flight 7.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFindings from the static fire informed hardware changes to the fuel feedlines to vacuum engines, adjustments to propellant temperatures, and a new operating thrust target that will be used on the upcoming flight test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for the Super Heavy booster, Flight 7 was largely successful with the exception of the boostback burn. That maneuver saw 12 out of 13 planned engines reignite for the burn, which lasted about 44 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX said that the Raptor that didn\u2019t relight during the boostback burn aborted during startup \u201cdue to a low-power condition in the igniter system.\u201d The engine went on to operate normally during the landing burn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaptor engines on upcoming flights have a pre-planned igniter upgrade to mitigate this issue,\u201d SpaceX said.<\/p>\n<h4>Ship catch next?<\/h4>\n<p>Among the design changes on Starship Block 2 are catch fittings, which during Flight 8 will be tested for their thermal performance. SpaceX said the fittings on S34 are not weight-bearing.<\/p>\n<p>Many folks in the online space community latched onto a SpaceX filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which asked for a special temporary authority (STA) \u201cto authorize Starship Test Flight 9 vehicle communications.\u201d The application suggests that the next Starship flight could feature a potential upper stage catch attempt.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_68875\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-68875\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-68875\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250302_S34_dummy_catch_point_installed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250302_S34_dummy_catch_point_installed.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250302_S34_dummy_catch_point_installed-300x147.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250302_S34_dummy_catch_point_installed-678x333.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/20250302_S34_dummy_catch_point_installed-768x377.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-68875\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A non-structural version of the Starship\u2019s catch fitting is installed on S34 ahead of the planned launch of Starship Flight 8. Image: LabPadre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a post on his social media site, X, SpaceX founder and special government employee Elon Musk suggested that more data is needed before that can happen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to perfect ship reentry at extreme temperatures before attempting to catch the ship with the tower arms, like the booster,\u201d Musk wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Musk also appeared on a recent episode of \u201cThe Joe Rogan Experience\u201d podcast in which he said, \u201cI think we\u2019ll achieve reusability of the Ship this year and I think we\u2019ll achieve rapid reusability of the whole stack, Ship and booster, next year.\u201d He said SpaceX \u201cmight\u201d be able to refly a Ship in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1896239972195438598&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2025%2F03%2F03%2Flive-coverage-spacex-to-launch-starship-flight-8-suborbital-test-mission-from-starbase%2F&amp;sessionId=5e52b9013728fb0942945c79333697d77e20da79&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1896239972195438598\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782462313643695487=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">This is a real video of a past @SpaceX Starship water landing.<\/p>\n<p>Trying again tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>We need to perfect ship reentry at extreme temperatures before attempting to catch the ship with the tower arms, like the booster.<\/p>\n<p>pic.twitter.com\/tss9Lb4fWr<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2025<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s Starship rocket stands at the launch tower ahead of the eighth suborbital flight test. Image: SpaceX Update March 6, 3:50 p.m. EST (2050 UTC): SpaceX is proceeding towards a launch attempt on March 6. SpaceX is preparing to launch its Starship rocket from its Starbase facilities in southern Texas following a scrubbed launch attempt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[316,739,317,1177],"class_list":["post-9903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-spacex","tag-starbase","tag-starship","tag-starship-flight-8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9903\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}