SpaceX is set to launch its Starship megarocket on an important test flight Tuesday, following two previous launches that ended in explosions and debris falling in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. This uncrewed flight, Starship’s ninth, will take off from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas, during a launch window beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. Standing at 400 feet, Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built, comprising a first-stage booster, Super Heavy, and an upper-stage spacecraft, both crucial for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s vision of Mars colonization.
Musk, who has recently shifted focus back to SpaceX, will present on “the road to making life multiplanetary” after the flight. This upcoming test is significant due to past failures; it will utilize a Super Heavy booster from an earlier mission that successfully returned to Earth. SpaceX aims for Starship to be fully reusable, and previous tests included successful “catch” maneuvers where the booster returned to its launch site.
The last test flight in March had to be aborted nine minutes post-launch when contact was lost with the upper-stage vehicle, leading to debris falling over parts of Florida. Investigations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) followed, and after clearing Starship to fly again, they expanded hazard zones to 1,600 nautical miles to ensure safety.
For Tuesday’s mission, SpaceX will test several “off-nominal scenarios,” meaning the Super Heavy booster will not attempt the catch maneuver. If successful, the upper-stage vehicle will deploy eight simulated Starlink satellites, which are designed to burn up upon re-entry. SpaceX anticipates many test missions before carrying humans on Starship.
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