Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship Launch Live: Time to Watch Test Flight 7

3 hours ago 2

The seventh test flight of SpaceX's Starship is set to be launched today at around 5 p.m. ET from Boca Chica, Texas.

A livestream of the launch will be available on this blog from 4 p.m. ET, or directly from SpaceX's X account and website.

The test flight, which was pushed back until today due to poor weather, is expected to last just over an hour.

It will "launch a new generation ship with significant upgrades, attempt Starship's first payload deployment test, fly multiple reentry experiments geared towards ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Super Heavy booster," according to SpaceX. The payload includes a set of ten replica Starlink satellites.

Starship's Super Heavy booster will reuse one of its 33 engines for the first time today, and SpaceX will attempt a catch again today, after the sixth test flight was forced to abandon its attempt.

What to know

Standing at 397 feet tall, Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket, comprising two main sections: the upper "Starship" stage and the lower "Super Heavy" booster.
The rocket system is being developed with the ambitious goal of enabling lunar and interplanetary missions, including NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon before the end of the decade.
SpaceX has launched Starship six times since its debut flight in April 2023.
Starship's sixth launch test, last November, abandoned an attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster, which instead splashed down in the Indian Ocean

Today's launch comes one day after SpaceX sent two lunar landers on separate missions, marking a major step in the race to commercialize the Moon.

The liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center carried landers from Japanese company ispace and U.S.-based Firefly Aerospace, both aiming to establish a business footprint on Earth's lunar neighbor. The two spacecraft shared a ride aboard a single Falcon 9 rocket, reducing costs, but diverged an hour into their journey, each on its own path for the months-long trek to the Moon.

Jeff Bezos' space company also had a successful launch in the early hours of Thursday as its New Glenn rocket lifted off at around 1 a.m. ET from Florida.

Follow Newsweek's live blog for updates.

02:56 PM EST

Today's test flight comes after yesterday's successful SpaceX launch of lunar landers

In a groundbreaking launch early on Wednesday, SpaceXsent two lunar landers on separate missions, marking a major step in the race to commercialize the Moon.

The liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center carried landers from Japanese company ispace and U.S.-based Firefly Aerospace, both aiming to establish a business footprint on Earth's lunar neighbor.

The two spacecraft shared a ride aboard a single Falcon 9 rocket, reducing costs, but diverged an hour into their journey, each on its own path for the months-long trek to the Moon.

The launch marks ispace's second attempt after its first lander crashed in 2022. The new mission carries a rover designed to collect lunar soil samples and test for potential water and food sources, which are both crucial for future lunar colonization.

Read in full from Shamim Chowdhury on Newsweek.

02:46 PM EST

What is NASA's Artemis mission?

SpaceX's Starship has been selected by NASA as the lunar lander for the Artemis III mission, aiming to return humans to the moon.

The mission, which which aims to put the first woman on the lunar surface by 2024, was named Artemis after the ancient Greek goddess who was the daughter of Zeus and Leto.

Artemis III will launch no earlier than September 2026, according to NASA. The mission will last around 30 days and will take two astronauts near to the South Pole of the moon for approximately a week.

The mission is expected to use NASA's rocket, the Orion spacecraft with astronauts on board, and the Starship Human Landing System, which will get them to the surface, to ensure safe and accessible landings

It will follow on from the Artemis II mission, which is scheduled for launch no earlier than September 2025, a crewed mission to the moon's orbit.

02:43 PM EST