SpaceX is preparing for an uncrewed test flight of its Starship rocket system from Boca Chica, Texas. The mission is a crucial milestone in SpaceX’s ambition of sending humans back to the moon and ultimately to Mars. The two-stage rocketship is designed to be reusable and capable of soft landings on Earth. The Starship rocket is more powerful than NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS).
SpaceX is gearing up to launch its powerful new Starship rocket system on an uncrewed test flight from the Gulf Coast of Texas. The two-stage rocketship, standing at 394 feet (120 m) high, is taller than the Statue of Liberty and is designed to be reusable, with both the lower-stage Super Heavy booster rocket and the upper-stage Starship cruise vessel capable of flying back to Earth for soft landings. If successful, the mission will represent a significant milestone in SpaceX’s ambitious plan to send humans back to the moon and eventually to Mars.
However, the mission is not without its challenges. The Starship rocket, if it gets off the ground, will instantly become the most powerful rocket on Earth. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has warned that success should not be expected and that “it’s just a very fundamentally difficult thing.” Even if the objectives of the test flight are not entirely met, it will still provide crucial data about how the vehicle ascends to space and how it will fly back to Earth.
The test flight has been granted a license by the Federal Aviation Administration, and SpaceX’s launch teams are making final preparations for the launch, which will take place during a two-hour launch window that opens at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT). The launch will see all 33 Raptor engines ignite simultaneously to lift the Starship on a flight that will nearly complete a full orbit of the Earth before it re-enters the atmosphere and free-falls into the Pacific at supersonic speed about 60 miles (97 km) off the northern Hawaiian islands. After separating from the Starship, the Super Heavy booster is expected to execute the beginnings of a controlled return flight before plunging into the Gulf of Mexico.
Prototypes of the Starship cruise vessel have made five sub-space flights up to 6 miles (10 km) above Earth in recent years, but the Super Heavy booster has never left the ground. Additional Super Heavy boosters are already on deck in Boca Chica for future test flights, according to Musk.
The Starship rocket is almost two times more powerful than NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which made its debut uncrewed flight to orbit in November. The Starship’s successful launch would mark a significant step forward for SpaceX and could potentially pave the way for more ambitious space exploration projects.