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Live Updates: SpaceX Postpones Starship Launch Attempt

SpaceX

This is CNBC's live blog following the first orbital launch attempt of SpaceX's Starship rocket on Monday.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — Elon Musk's SpaceX was eyeing Monday to launch its towering Starship rocket to space for the first time from a private facility in Texas along the Gulf Coast. But with under 15 minutes left in the countdown, the company announced a "scrub," postponing the launch.

The Starship orbital launch is the culmination of several years of regulatory work and technological tests. Company leadership has repeatedly stressed the experimental nature of the launch. SpaceX had hoped to conduct the first orbital Starship launch as early as summer 2021, but delays in development and FAA approval pushed back the timeline.

Starship is designed to carry cargo and people beyond Earth and is critical to NASA's plan to return astronauts to the moon. Two years ago, SpaceX won a nearly $3 billion contract from NASA to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander. That would see Starship be used for as part of NASA's Artemis moon program, delivering astronauts to the lunar surface from the agency's SLS rocket and Orion capsule.

Follow along for live updates from South Texas.

Next launch attempt no sooner than Wednesday

SpaceX's Kate Tice said the company expects it to be a minimum of 48 hours to make another attempt, which would be Wednesday.

"We're not quite sure what that timing will be" for the next attempt, Tice said, noting that it will depend on the data SpaceX saw from today's attempt.

— Michael Sheetz

SpaceX scrubs launch

SpaceX is postponing the launch attempt.

Insprucker said the flight director decided "to stop the launch for today" due to an issue with the pressurization system in the Super Heavy booster.

The company is scrubbing the launch attempt, but will continue the countdown until about the 10-second mark to get more data about loading the rocket with propellant, in what is known as a "wet dress rehearsal."

In a tweet, Musk said that a pressure valve "appears to be frozen."

— Michael Sheetz

Booster pressurization issue may delay launch

SpaceX principal integration engineer Insprucker said Starship first stage team is "working a pressurization issue," which if unresolved would prevent launch and cause today to be a wet dress rehearsal.

Insprucker also said the company is checking in with the U.S. Coast Guard about a boat that is "in the safety perimeter," but are working to get that out of the way in time for launch.

— Michael Sheetz

Flight plan to Kauai

Below is an overview of the flight, assuming it goes according to plan. Starship would reach space and travel most of the way around the Earth before splashing down off the coast of Kauai.

SpaceX

— Michael Sheetz

SpaceX watching winds

John Insprucker, SpaceX principal integration engineer and webcast cult legend, said during the company's livestream that wind is a watch item for liftoff but that it is currently "within limits" for launch.

— Michael Sheetz

‘Excitement guaranteed’

People take pictures of the rocket garden ahead of the SpaceX Starship flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on April 16, 2023. 
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
People take pictures of the rocket garden ahead of the SpaceX Starship flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on April 16, 2023. 

That phrase has become the official motto of this Starship test flight, with Elon Musk and others from SpaceX emphasizing the experimental nature of the launch.

"It's the first launch of a very complicated gigantic rocket," Musk said during a Twitter Spaces discussion on Sunday.

The most recent Starship flight test stayed within Earth's atmosphere, flying no more than 40,000 feet altitude. While that launch landed successfully, previous short flight tests have had dramatic and explosive results – one of the potential outcomes that Musk has warned about for today's launch.

— Michael Sheetz

Thousands pour into live stream

Just 15 minutes after starting its live stream, SpaceX's YouTube webcast has drawn more than 585,000 viewers. There's 30 minutes to go before launch.

— Sara Salinas

Starship by the numbers

A view of the SpaceX Starship as it stands on the launch pad ahead of a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, early on April 17, 2023.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
A view of the SpaceX Starship as it stands on the launch pad ahead of a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, early on April 17, 2023.

Fully-stacked on the Super Heavy booster, Starship stands 394 feet tall, and is about 30 feet in diameter – making it the tallest rocket ever assembled.

The Super Heavy booster is what begins the rocket's journey to space. At its base are 33 Raptor engines, which together produce 16.7 million pounds of thrust – double the 8.8 million pounds of thrust of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which launched for the first time late last year.

Starship itself has six Raptor engines, with three for use while in the Earth's atmosphere and three for operating in the vacuum of space.

— Michael Sheetz

SpaceX's live stream has started

SpaceX has started its live stream of the launch. You can watch it above or on YouTube.

So far the stream features a slate of slow-moving star graphics and the company's logo, with futuristic music in the background.

— Sara Salinas

Musk corporate synergies

Here at the SpaceX press site, a bit of Elon Musk's corporate synergies are on display: The internet service is powered by the company's Starlink satellites — and the login for the Wi-Fi is a Twitter reference.

— Michael Sheetz

An hour to launch

It's an hour to launch, based on current targets.

SpaceX has a 150-minute window to get Starship off the ground today, which began at 8 a.m. ET and goes until 10:30 a.m. ET.

— Michael Sheetz

Enthusiasts and VIPs gather to watch

Enthusiasts and onlookers gather on South Padre Island, Texas, to watch SpaceX attempt the first orbital launch of its Starship rocket.
Michael Sheetz | CNBC
Enthusiasts and onlookers gather on South Padre Island, Texas, to watch SpaceX attempt the first orbital launch of its Starship rocket.

South Padre Island and Brownsville, a pair of small cities on the furthest southern border of Texas, are teeming with SpaceX enthusiasts and VIPs who have come to witness the launch in person. As always with a new rocket, a debut launch can easily feature multiple false starts and delays of days or weeks.

— Michael Sheetz

NASA's high-altitude imagery aircraft arrives

One of the space agency's WB-57 aircraft has begun circling above the launch site. NASA uses the WB-57 in a variety of ways, but it often captures video and imagery of rocket launches and spacecraft re-entering.

— Michael Sheetz

Press assembles on South Padre Island

Members of the press gather on South Padre Island, about 5 miles from SpaceX's private Starship facility, for the first attempt at orbital launch on Monday, April 17, 2023.
Michael Sheetz | CNBC
Members of the press gather on South Padre Island, about 5 miles from SpaceX's private Starship facility, for the first attempt at orbital launch on Monday, April 17, 2023.

I'm sitting in some temporary bleachers with other members of the press near the amphitheater on the southern tip of South Padre Island, with a clear view of Starship on the launch pad about five miles away.

For reference, the press site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center is a little over three miles away from the launchpads in Florida.

— Michael Sheetz

Musk lowers expectations

In a discussion on Twitter Spaces on Sunday evening, Elon Musk repeatedly called for low expectations for this Starship launch, saying it would be a success simply to not "blow up the launch pad" and reach orbit.

Musk also noted that for Monday's attempt, the launch is "more likely to scrub," meaning postpone, "than fly."

— Michael Sheetz

SpaceX begins loading propellant, targeting 9:20 a.m. ET launch

With roughly 90 minutes to go until launch, SpaceX is about to begin loading the Super Heavy booster with liquid oxygen and liquid methane, the propellants the company uses to fuel the rocket's engines. In total, the rocket is filled with more than 10 million pounds of propellant.

The company is targeting an 8:20 a.m. CT / 9:20 a.m. ET launch.

— Michael Sheetz

An experimental but crucial flight

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday issued SpaceX with the launch license the company needed to perform the flight, which represents the first time it tries to fly Starship to space. Company leadership has previously stressed the experimental nature of the launch, with SpaceX working for the past several years to build up to this attempt.

SpaceX has not disclosed how much it has spent on the Starship program to date, but Musk previously estimated that he expects it will cost the company about $5 billion to complete.

— Michael Sheetz

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