Starship is scheduled to launch from SpaceX's Starbase in Texas on Sunday with a 6:30pm CT launch window. Engineers intend to deploy Starlink communications satellite simulators and test multiple mission objectives, including re-entry systems and a return landing of the upper stage. Of nine previous uncrewed flights since April 2023, failures have outnumbered successes, and three test flights this year ended in large explosions and debris fallout across Caribbean and Indian Ocean regions. SpaceX has implemented engineering changes after failure reviews, is testing new heat-resistant tiles, and seeks human-flight certification of the upper stage as early as next year.
The latest iteration of Elon Musk's gargantuan Starship space rocket is poised to launch into the skies above Texas on Sunday for the first time in three months, with the billionaire entrepreneur's ambitious timetable for reaching the moon and conquering Mars hinging on the success of the pivotal mission. Skywatchers are eager to see which version of the world's most powerful rocket will be produced for its 10th launch attempt.
Of its nine previous uncrewed outings, dating to April 2023, failures have outnumbered the successes. All three test flights this year ended in huge explosions and debris raining down on Caribbean islands from the Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos in January and March, and the Indian Ocean in May. Sunday night's test flight, from SpaceX's sprawling complex in Starbase, Texas, formerly known as Boca Chica, has a launch window opening at 6.30pm CT,
SpaceX has not achieved a safe return landing of the upper stage of Starship, which Musk is hoping to have certified for human spaceflight as early as next year. SpaceX engineers have made a number of changes following reviews of the rocket's previous failures, which include a catastrophic explosion that destroyed a Starship rocket during a ground test in June.
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