Mike Hughes launch postponed
'Mad' Mike Hughes plans to attempt the launch next week - Representational image VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images

'Mad' Mike Hughes, the 61-year-old flat-Earth believer who was set to launch himself some 1,800ft up into the air at speeds of around 500mph on Saturday, 25 November, has postponed the blast-off due to a couple of hitches.

Hughes had prepped his red-coloured, DIY steam-powered rocket for the lift-off and selected the launch site as well. However, just a couple of days before the launch, he was contacted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and was informed that he did not have the required approvals to take-off from an airstrip in California's Amboy, a ghost town in the Mojave Desert.

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The situation was further complicated when the motorhome, or the launcher for the homemade rocket, broke down as Hughes was preparing to leave for the launch site, as per The Telegraph. "I just fixed it about two hours ago," Hughes said, while announcing the cancellation on YouTube.

Now, the limo driver and stuntman plans to attempt the launch next week – tentatively Tuesday, 28 November – at another location, which he said is 3 miles away from the current site, and long and wide enough for the launch.

"I don't see [the launch] happening until about Tuesday, honestly," Hughes told the Washington Post. "It takes three days to set up... You know, it's not easy because it's not supposed to be easy."

Hughes has spent years and about $20,000 (£15,100) to build his very own steam-powered rocket for this adventure – one of the first crucial steps in his 'grand plan' to fly into space.

His DIY rocket is built from aluminium bought from local metal shops and uses a nozzle fashioned out of an aircraft's air filter. The vehicle is designed to lift-off from a ramp attached to the motorhome.

"If you're not scared to death, you're an idiot," he told the Associated Press earlier in the week when asked about his dangerous mission. "It's scary as hell, but none of us are getting out of this world alive."

The flat-Earther believes that BLM's notice was a result of the publicity he has generated after the story of his launch went viral last week. He had previously said that he had all the necessary approvals to hold the launch from the airstrip in Amboy.