Starship Launch – Live: SpaceX launches world’s largest rocket in key test of Mars mission

If today’s launch is canceled, SpaceX has a backup launch window in place for Starship’s flight trial.

Officials in Cameron County, home to SpaceX’s StarBase facility, have issued a beach closure advisory for the public on June 7 and 8, from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time on both days.

SpaceX says the launch is scheduled for 7:50am local time (1:50pm BST), 50 minutes into the two-hour launch window — leaving plenty of time for some delays during the countdown, as has been the case in the past.

Weather conditions at launch were reported to be 95 percent good, the best standard for a launch of this kind.

The live stream will be available in approximately 50 minutes.

SpaceX called Starship’s final test flight in March “phenomenal,” though both parts of the rocket were ultimately lost. Those funding the endeavor appear to share that view, according to people who spoke after the launch.

“We’re excited to be working with SpaceX on this exciting opportunity,” said Chad Anderson, managing partner at Space Capital, SpaceX’s investment firm. Independent He said he believed the mission was a “huge success” and an “amazing breakthrough” for the company.

“The engineering challenges for a spacecraft of this size and complexity are enormous,” he said. “Starship is a game-changing launch vehicle that will change the way we think about space: reaching space is expensive, difficult and dangerous.”

For more information on Starship Test Flight 3, click here.

SpaceX detailed what to expect from today’s launch, revealing exactly what each phase of launch, flight, and landing will entail, second by second.

There are also illustrations to give you a rough idea of ​​what the whole thing will look like.

00:01:02 Max Q (the moment when the rocket’s mechanical stress is at its maximum)

00:02:41 Super Heavy MECO (most engines shut down)

00:02:45 Hot staging (Starship Raptor ignition and stage separation)

00:02:49 Ultra Heavy Boost Backburner Launch

00:03:52 Super Heavy Boost Backburner Shutdown

00:03:54 Dumping hot stages

00:06:39 Super heavyweights are transonic

00:06:43 Super Heavy landing combustion start

00:07:04 Super Heavy Landing Burnout

00:08:23 Starship engine shutdown

01:03:11 Starship is transonic

01:04:01 Starship is subsonic

01:05:48 An exciting landing!

On March 14, coincidentally SpaceX’s birthday, the Starship launched from its Starbase facility and flew in space for nearly an hour before disintegrating as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

Today’s flight is expected to follow a similar trajectory, with an estimated duration of one hour and five minutes.

You can watch the launch, flight, and ultimate failure of the final Starship spacecraft here (skip to about the 38 minute mark for the launch scene).

The two-hour launch window opens up in just a few hours, when Starship will be fully loaded and waiting to be refueled at the launch pad at SpaceX’s Starbase facility.

Here’s what the company hopes to accomplish with today’s announcement:

At 120 metres tall, Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said it could soon get even bigger.

Musk responded to a post on X (formerly Twitter) last month. I have written Starship will “probably get closer to about 140 meters (currently about 120 meters) over time,” it said.

By comparison, Egypt’s largest pyramid, the Great Pyramid of Giza, is 137 metres tall. It is unclear whether the increased height would translate into increased power, as the current version can generate 7.5 million kilograms of thrust, roughly double that of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the world’s second most powerful rocket.

Today’s attempt comes just three months after SpaceX last launched a Starship rocket into space, and while it successfully reached orbit, not everything went according to plan.

Both the Super Heavy booster and Starship’s main rocket were destroyed before returning to Earth, so today’s attempt was a key test for SpaceX’s hopes of using the spacecraft for missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond in the coming years. Proving that both parts of the giant rocket are reusable is SpaceX’s main objective today, so expect to see them splash down in the Gulf of Mexico and the Indian Ocean, respectively, and without any further explosions.

We’ve compiled a history of SpaceX’s explosive Starship, which you can find here:

To IndependentWe are covering Starship’s launch attempt live today. The rocket has been stacked, the roads cleared, and approval has been given by the competent authorities to proceed with the launch.

As soon as it’s ready, we’ll bring you the latest updates, analysis, and even a live stream of the launch itself.