After hopes were squashed due to the scrub of a duel static fire and flight day Friday. SpaceX is hoping to regroup and try again this coming Monday for the next attempt to fly Starship SN11 and more importantly bring it back in one piece.
Reason’s for SN11’s delay
According to Elon Musk who shared Monday afternoon after the roads reopened that they are hoping to reattempt the flight countdowns Monday. This was due to the need for additional checkouts on the vehicle with a high hope they will stick the landing.
Starship SN11 conducted its third static fire Friday morning after one of the Raptor engines had to be repaired and reinstalled on the vehicle. Fixes or swaps with the engines have always lead to another static fire but SpaceX optimistically wished to also fly the rocket that same day assuming no issues were seen after the test.
After a long time with SpaceX crews looking at the flight termination system, Cameron County announced that the road and beach were now open and testing had concluded for the day.
Monday’s Scrub
Due to a FAA safety inspector not making it to South Texas in time for the flight Monday, SpaceX had to scrub the launch attempt and move it to Tuesday. A safety inspector is a new addition to the requirements from the FAA that was added to the license to fly SN11. It is unsure what power the inspector will have and what they will be able to do during the flight of SpaceX’s newest test vehicle.
Elon Musk shared that the next flight attempt will be on Tuesday, as long as everything continues to go well on the rocket.
Starship SN11’s current flight status
After the scrub of SpaceX’s Starship SN11’s flight Monday, the next date per flight restrictions will be Tuesday. With a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) beginning at 7 AM Local and ending at 8 PM Local around Boca Chica, Texas. This TFR is also copied for Wednesday for a backup date if it is needed.
Cameron County’s SpaceX road closure website shows two more closures for the road and beach that surround SpaceX’s facilities. The first is for Tuesday and it starts at 7 AM and ends at 3 PM Local meant for the flight of Starship SN11. The second is a backup date for this date which is Friday from 7 AM to Noon Local.
SN11 flight updates
Monday
Monday, March 29, 10:33 AM Local: Elon Musk shared that the FAA inspector needed to conduct the flight was not able to make it in time. New date for the flight is Tuesday, March 30.
Monday, March 29, 10:20 AM Local: The road to Boca Chica Beach and SpaceX facilities is now closed. This is earlier than the planned Noon closure notice given by the county.
Monday, March 29, 9:45 AM Local: Work on unlocking the aero-fins have begun.
Monday, March 29, 9:07 AM Local: Work on FTS has seemed to have concluded. Fins still need to be unlocked prior to flight.
Monday, March 29, 8:45 AM Local: Pad closeouts are underway, teams are seen working with Starship’s flight termination system which is one of the final steps before the pad is cleared.
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