Skip to main content

Launch of SpaceX Inspiration4 mission pushed back by a day

The crew of SpaceX’s first all-civilian mission, Inspiration4, will have to wait just a little longer to go into space as the mission launch has been delayed by a day.

The launch date had originally been set for Wednesday, September 15 UTC (Tuesday, September 14 EDT). But this has now been pushed back by 24 hours to a launch window opening at midnight on Thursday, September 16 UTC (8:00 p.m. ET on September 15) to allow more time for preparations.

The Inspiration4 crew recently arrived in Florida ahead of the mission launch.
The Inspiration4 crew recently arrived in Florida ahead of the mission launch. Inspiration4

In a statement, SpaceX said the crew had arrived in Florida following their final day of training in California. The Dragon spacecraft was also moved to its launch location, arriving at Launch Complex 39A on Kennedy Space Center and being fitted to the Falcon 9 rocket which will launch it.

Recommended Videos

“After arrival, the teams from SpaceX and Inspiration4 also met yesterday evening for a follow-on flight readiness review and an initial weather briefing,” SpaceX wrote. “After evaluating the readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon spacecraft, associated ground systems, recovery assets and other key elements of SpaceX’s human spaceflight system, and the current weather forecasts of conditions at the launch site, along the ascent corridor, and at the landing locations off the coasts of Florida for a safe return of the crew a few days later, teams agreed to now target no earlier than 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, September 15 for liftoff. This will allow additional time for final preparations, vehicle checkouts, and data reviews.”

The company also said it would pin down and announce an exact time launch three days before liftoff.

The mission has attracted considerable public attention, buoyed by a Netflix documentary that is following along with the crew as they prepare for the mission. Not all the episodes of the documentary are out yet, and the producers say they are planning to make at least one episode after the crew returns from the mission.

If you’d like to see how the crew fare live as it happens, then the launch and the early stages of the mission will be livestreamed by SpaceX. To learn all the details and to find out where to watch along, head over to our guide on how to watch the SpaceX Inspiration 4 launch live.

Georgina Torbet
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
SpaceX suggests potential cause of huge Starship explosion
SpaceX's Starship spacecraft explodes at Starbase.

SpaceX has offered an update on the massive explosion which destroyed the Starship spacecraft on a test stand on Wednesday.

The dramatic explosion took place at SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, during preparations for the Starship rocket’s 10th test flight, which was expected to take place in the coming weeks. No one was reported killed or injured in the incident.

Read more
SpaceX reveals new target date for private crewed launch to ISS
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket waits to launch the Ax-4 mission to the space station.

SpaceX, partnering with NASA and Axiom Space, is aiming to blast a four-person crew to orbit at 3:42 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 22.

The private Ax-4 mission was supposed to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on June 10, but inclement weather in the ascent corridor forced the mission team to call off the effort. A plan to launch 24 hours later was also ditched following the discovery of a liquid oxygen leak on the rocket.

Read more
Watch SpaceX blast a Starship engine ahead of 10th flight
SpaceX tests one of its Starship rocket engines ahead of the 10th flight test.

SpaceX has just shared a short video showing a test firing of one of its six Starship engines in preparation for the rocket’s 10th flight test.

“Single-engine static fire demonstrating an in-space burn complete as Starship prepares for our tenth flight test,” the Elon Musk-led company said in a comment accompanying the video, which was posted on X on Tuesday.

Read more