SpaceX is gearing up for the seventh test flight of the Starship, the most powerful rocket ever to launch.
At the current time, the Elon Musk-led spaceflight company is targeting liftoff for the afternoon of Wednesday, January 15.
As with the previous six flights, SpaceX will launch the 120-meter-tall Starship — which consists of the first-stage Super Heavy booster and the upper stage Starship spacecraft — from its Starbase site near Boca Chica, Texas.
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If everything goes according to plan, Wednesday’s test flight will see the Starship perform its first payload deployment in the form of 10 Starlink satellite simulators. In another first, the mission will also reuse a Raptor engine from the Super Heavy booster that launched and returned on the Starship’s fifth flight in October. Additionally, the Starship will fly with a series of upgrades to the spacecraft, including improvements to its flight computer, avionics, and heat shield.
But many will be watching Wednesday’s live stream to see if SpaceX can nail the homecoming of the Super Heavy booster using the launch tower’s enormous mechanical arms. SpaceX achieved the remarkable feat on the first try (below) during the fifth test in October, but was unable to execute it during the sixth test the following month.
Thousands of distinct vehicle and pad criteria had to be met prior to catching the Super Heavy booster. Thanks to the tireless work of SpaceX engineers, we succeeded with catch on our first attempt. pic.twitter.com/6wa5v6xHI0
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024
The Super Heavy booster is about 70 meters tall, equivalent to a 20-story building, and the precision maneuver involves a controlled descent, ending with two load points on the side of the booster gently coming to rest on the launch tower’s arms.
Bringing the booster home in this way allows SpaceX to refurbish the rocket so that it can fly it on multiple Starship missions, helping it to drastically reduce launch costs. SpaceX is also developing a landing system for the Starship spacecraft for when it returns to Earth or touches down on other celestial bodies. The current test flights involve splashdowns in the Indian Ocean.
“This new year will be transformational for Starship,” SpaceX said, “with the goal of bringing reuse of the entire system online and flying increasingly ambitious missions as we iterate towards being able to send humans and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon, and Mars.”
Digital Trends has all the information you need to watch a live stream of Wednesday’s highly anticipated Starship mission.