BOCA CHICA, Texas – Thursday is the second flight test attempt at the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed following a technical glitch that halted the countdown earlier this week.
The fully integrated SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy rocket is a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth’s orbit, help humanity return to the moon and travel to Mars and beyond.
The 62-minute launch window for the nearly 400-foot-tall spacecraft is set to open at 8:28 a.m. CDT from the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.
“With a test such as this, success is measured by how much we can learn, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship,” the space company said in a statement Thursday morning.
As of 6:30 a.m. CDT, the Starship team said it was keeping an eye on the weather as fueling of the Super Heavy booster and Starship’s upper stage got underway.
It was expected to lift off from a Texas facility on Monday. However, the attempt was scrubbed due to a frozen pressure valve and moved to a wet dress rehearsal.
SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft could pave the way for the company to eventually replace the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets with the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket.
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Starship is powered by six engines – three Raptor engines and three Raptor Vacuum (RVac) engines, which are designed to be used in the vacuum of space. Super Heavy is powered by 33 Raptor engines, with 13 in the center and 20 engines around the perimeter of the bottom of the powerful booster.
The Raptor engines, which are just over 4 feet tall, power the Starship spacecraft and have twice the thrust of the Falcon 9 Merlin engines.
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When the launch does occur, the Super Heavy booster rocket is expected to splash down over the Gulf of Mexico, and the Starship spacecraft will circle the globe and land in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
The space company anticipates the rocket will take about 90 minutes to reach its orbit and splashdown in the Pacific.