SpaceX plans a Starship test launch from Starbase with a one-hour window starting at 6:30 pm CDT, though favorable weather is only 45 percent likely. The 404-foot vehicle will travel about 66 minutes from Texas to a splashdown zone northwest of Australia. The flight marks the 10th full-scale Starship test and the fourth of the upgraded Block 2 (Version 2) design intended as a step toward a heavier-duty rocket capable of carrying roughly 150 metric tons. Version 2 has encountered setbacks since January, with two Version 2 vehicles remaining before development moves to Version 3.
Towering 404 feet (123.1 meters) tall, the rocket will lift off during a one-hour launch window beginning at 6:30 pm CDT (7:30 pm EDT; 23:30 UTC) Sunday. The main concern for Sunday's launch attempt will be weather conditions at Starbase, located a few miles north of the US-Mexico border. There's just a 45 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff Sunday, according to SpaceX.
This will be the 10th full-scale test flight of Starship and its Super Heavy booster stage. It's the fourth flight of an upgraded version of Starship conceived as a stepping stone to a more reliable, heavier-duty version of the rocket designed to carry up to 150 metric tons, or some 330,000 pounds, of cargo to pretty much anywhere in the inner part of our Solar System.
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