SpaceX's Starship Flight 8, which was initially scheduled to fly on Friday, has now been delayed to Monday, the firm shared in an update earlier today. Starship Flight 8 will repeat Flight 7's test objectives and come a month and a half after the previous test resulted in a spectacular mid-air explosion, which sent debris raining down over the Caribbean. The delay follows after SpaceX shipped the Super Heavy booster to the pad earlier this week, and a Friday launch would have left little time for the firm to test the full Starship stack via a wet dress rehearsal.
SpaceX Starship Flight 8 Slips To Monday As Firm Yet To Stack Rocket At Pad
As was the case with Flight 7, Starship Flight 8 will be one of the most important tests in the program. It will focus on the upper-stage spacecraft and test a new propulsion system, heat shield tiles and other upgrades. Starship Flight 8 will also test the ship's first payload deployment as SpaceX will launch a payload of dummy Starlink satellites.
The new rocket is a key part of the firm's plans to develop its satellite internet constellation as the operational workhorse Falcon 9 cannot accommodate the larger Starlink second-generation satellites.
Judging from footage from local media, it appears that the second stage is also the reason SpaceX has delayed Starship Flight 8. While it shipped the booster to the pad earlier this week, the firm is yet to transport the ship to the launch pad.
For most of Starship's previous tests, SpaceX had confirmed the launch date only after it had shipped the rocket. After the upper stage rocket is shipped to the pad, it is stacked on the booster for a wet dress rehearsal to verify all systems before flight.
Since it is yet to transport the ship to the launch pad, SpaceX announced earlier today that it has delayed Starship Flight 8 to Monday. The delay will allow the firm to fine tune the ship and potentially conduct a full stack wet dress rehearsal ahead of flight. It also removed the hot stage ring from the booster earlier as part of final pre flight preparations.
Apart from deploying the dummy Starlink satellites, Starship Flight 8 will also reignite a Raptor engine while in space. The dummy satellites will fly a suborbital trajectory and burn up in the atmosphere. One of the most important test objectives for the upcoming test will be evaluating the ship for a return-to-site landing profile.
According to SpaceX, it will "stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle" and use different kinds of tiles to evaluate their performance. Additionally, the ship will also use catch hardware to test its ability to withstand extreme heat during atmospheric reentry.
