SpaceX ‘Starship’ launch postponed until Saturday

A person looks on as SpaceX’s huge Super Heavy-Starship is unstacked from the booster as it sits on the launchpad at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on November 16, 2023, ahead of its second test flight posponed to November 18. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on November 15, 2023 authorized SpaceX to carry out its second launch of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, after a first attempt in April ended in a spectacular explosion. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

SpaceX has pushed back by one day the long awaited second launch of its next-generation Starship rocket because of technical issues, the company’s CEO Elon Musk said Thursday.

The space world is buzzing with anticipation ahead of the orbital test flight, originally scheduled for Friday and now due to take off Saturday, after a first attempt in April ended in a massive explosion.

“We need to replace a grid fin actuator, so launch is postponed to Saturday,” Musk posted on his social media site X, formerly Twitter.

Grid fins are aerodynamic controls used by SpaceX to adjust and stabilize its rockets during their descent phase so they can land upright.

Actuators refer to the machine parts used to impart motion.