Elon Musk says he's embarrassed after a simple electrical fault scuppered his latest SpaceX launch - INSIDER

• SpaceX's prototype rocket Starhopper aborted its test flight Monday with less than a second left on the countdown.
• CEO Elon Musk tweeted that there had been a wiring problem with the engine's igniters and that the flight would take place Tuesday instead.
• Responding to a tweet from a tech blogger, Musk said the mistake was "embarrassing."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Elon Musk has tweeted that he was embarrassed by the aborted flight attempt by Starhopper, the experimental rocket ship his company SpaceX is using as a prototype for its Mars-bound vehicle Starship.

Starhopper was supposed to embark on a flight 150 meters, or 492 feet, into the air before landing back on its launchpad in South Texas on Monday.

The flight was aborted less than one second left before takeoff, however. Musk later tweeted that the igniters that spark the rocket's engine had a wiring issue and that the rocket would try taking off again Tuesday.

Read more: Police sent explosion warnings to residents near SpaceX's South Texas launch site ahead of an experimental rocket flight

Following this, the tech blogger Pranay Pathole said it was odd that "relatively simple circuits" like the igniters could be miswired. "Very strange that there are no sensors that could check on whether the igniters were working," Pathole added. "Yes, rather embarrassing tbh," Musk replied, using the abbreviation for "to be honest."

Starhopper, which stands about 60 feet tall, has been affectionately dubbed a "water tower" by Musk because of its stubby appearance. It completed its first untethered flight test in July, when it flew for roughly 10 seconds. This next test flight will be its last, according to Musk, with Starhopper expected to be stripped and its parts reused.

Starhopper, one of SpaceX's prototypes of a Mars rocket system called Starship, at the company's South Texas launch site on April 4.

Dave Mosher/Business Insider

Starhopper is a stepping stone for SpaceX to test out its technology so it can one day build its Starship rocket, which Musk has said will be able to transport 100 people and 150 tons of cargo to Mars.

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https://www.insider.com/elon-musk-embarrassed-after-aborted-spacehopper-launch-2019-8

2019-08-27 10:48:07Z
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