Elon Musk's SpaceX will re-attempt the launch of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket system today from the Texas Starbase, USA. It was unable to launch on Monday 17 April and postponed due to a frozen pressurant valve according to Musk.
The spaceflight system is designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth’s orbit, with the aim of carrying astronauts to the Moon and Mars – including use in NASA’s Artemis 3 mission to the Moon in 2025.
But on this mission there is no crew and it won’t reach orbit. It will instead mark the first fully integrated test flight of the rocket system after successful tests of the capsule and rocket individually.
This flight aims to demonstrate Super Heavy’s ‘soft-landing’ as it hovers above the ocean just before splashdown. It will also help SpaceX test and improve the system's design ahead of missions like Artemis 3.
When will Starship launch today?
Starship is scheduled to launch today, Thursday 20 April, within a 62-minute launch window. In the UK, this will be between 2:28pm - 3:30pm BST.
In the USA, the launch window is between:
- 8:28am - 9:30am CT (Central Time – the local time at Starbase in Texas)
- 9:28am to 10:30am ET (Eastern Time)
- 6:28am to 7:30am PT (Pacific Time)
The SpaceX livestream will begin 45 mins before the expected launch time. Unlike last week’s JUICE launch, which had a one-second window during which the European Space Agency could attempt lift-off, SpaceX have just over an hour to launch Starship and Super Heavy today.
SpaceX could therefore wait to launch any time within the launch window depending on weather. The SpaceX Twitter Feed will share new timing updates if the launch time changes.
How can I watch it?
Live coverage will begin at 1:43pm BST and 7:43am CT/8:43am ET/5:43am PT. It can be watched on the YouTube video below:
NASA Space Flight will also provide live coverage here.
What is SpaceX Starship?
Starship is a fully reusable spacecraft designed by Elon Musk's space transportation company SpaceX. It is also capable of transportation on Earth and can complete any point-to-point journey in under an hour.
'Starship' also refers to the combined transportation system that consists of the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket. The "most powerful launch vehicle ever developed" according to SpaceX, Starship will be able to carry a crew of up to 100 and cargo with a payload capacity of 400 metric tonnes.
Starship will circle Earth (but not reach orbit) at an altitude of 234km before splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii.
The Super Heavy booster will return separately, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico – 32km from the launch site. Though Starship is fully reusable, for this mission SpaceX will not recover Starship or the Super Heavy booster.
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