The mighty Starship rocket could take its 12th test flight as early as March, according SpaceX chief Elon Musk.
In a post on X on Monday, Musk shared a photo of the massive rocket in an earlier flight, along with the comment, “Starship launch in 6 weeks.”
The Starship, which comprises the upper-stage Ship spacecraft and first-stage Super Heavy booster, will lift off from Pad 2 at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in southern Texas. It’ll mark the first launch from the new pad, which is still under construction.
More importantly, the mission will mark the first-ever launch of the third version of Starship.
When fully stacked, the new vehicle will be a little taller, increasing from 123.3 meters to 124.4 meters.
The new version also features a larger capacity compared to its predecessor, allowing for heavier payloads, and comes with new docking adapters for in-orbit fuel transfer — a vital upgrade for Starship flights to the moon and beyond.
The Starship generates a colossal 17 million pounds of thrust at launch, making it the most powerful rocket ever to fly. To give that some context, that’s about 10 times the liftoff thrust of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.
Its awesome power, and spectacular launch and landing, has created huge interest in the rocket since its first flight in 2023. The vehicle could also one day blast the first humans toward Mars.
Before that, the Starship is expected to play a key role in the Artemis III mission, currently set for no earlier than 2027. In the much-anticipated endeavor, a modified Ship spacecraft will land two NASA astronauts on the lunar surface, marking the first crewed moon landing since 1972.
But the Starship is still in the testing phase, and has to clear numerous hurdles before it can take on the complex lunar mission.
The 12th Starship flight, which according to Musk is eyeing March for liftoff, will be an important stepping stone as SpaceX works to get the rocket ready for showtime.