Starship launch news – latest: SpaceX hours away from testing most powerful rocket ever made

SpaceX’s Starship is finally launching the Mars-bound craft into orbit.

The company and its boss Elon Musk are targeting a launch at 9am eastern time, or 2pm in the UK. It has some time either side to launch – and if it misses that will be forced to wait until later in the week.

Eventually, SpaceX hopes to use the spacecraft to explore the Moon and Mars. But for now it will complete a short orbital flight, lifting up into space and then falling back down.

The test launch had been held up waiting for approvals from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which requires that it meets all necessary safety and regulatory requirements. That appears to have come more quickly than expected, with Mr Musk previously suggesting on Twitter that the launch could be delayed until later in the month.

You can follow all the latest news and updates right here as SpaceX attempts to launch the largest rocket the world has ever seen.

Key points

• How big is Starship?

• What will Starship do?

Starship gets launch time

08:23 , Andrew Griffin

The time is set: SpaceX says it is targeting a launch around 8am central time, 9am eastern time, or 1pm in the UK. It has some time either side to use, if anything goes wrong.

Starship launch: How previous tests have gone

Thursday 13 April 2023 17:36 , Anthony Cuthbertson

This may be the first ever orbital flight test of Starship, but SpaceX has already performed numerous high-altitude flights with previous prototypes of the rocket.

All but one of them ended in a fiery explosion, just like this one:

The one that made it was Starship SN15, which managed to land back on its pad at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in southern Texas in May 2021.

Fast forward nearly two years and SpaceX boss Elon Musk says there’s no guarantee that the latest Starship won’t end in failure.

“I am not saying it will get to orbit but I am guaranteeing excitement,” he said last month. “It won’t be boring.”

Starship launch: SpaceX’s timeline for the flight test

Thursday 13 April 2023 10:25 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The first ever orbital flight test of a Starship rocket will take just an hour and a half, according to SpaceX’s launch timeline.

It will see Starship and its booster rocket lift off from the Starbase facility in Texas, before the two separate over the Gulf of Mexico. As the booster comes down to land on a drone ship, the main Starship rocket will continue around the planet to splash down just off the coast of Hawaii.

If all goes to plan, this is what should happen after lift-off:

55 seconds - Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)

2 minutes 49 seconds - Booster main engine cutoff

2 minutes 52 seconds - Stage separation

2 minutes 57 seconds - Starship ignition

3 minutes 11 seconds - Booster boostback burn startup

4 minutes 6 seconds - Booster boostback burn shutdown

7 minutes 32 seconds - Booster is transonic

7 minutes 40 seconds - Booster landing burn startup

8 minutes 3 seconds - Booster landing burn shutdown

9 minutes 20 seconds - Starship engine cutoff

77 minutes and 21 seconds - Starship entry

88 minutes 43 seconds - Starship is transonic

90 minutes - Starship splashdown

Starship launch: What will SpaceX’s next-gen rocket actually be used for?

Thursday 13 April 2023 09:53 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Elon Musk has big plans for Starship, having pinned his hopes for colonising Mars on the next-generation rocket.

The ultimate goal is to establish a permanent human presence on the red planet by 2050, but before that a base on the Moon will neet to be set up in order to serve as a launch pad for missions deeper into the solar system.

SpaceX has already secured a multi-billion dollar deal with Nasa to develop a Starship moon lander as part of the US space agency’s Artemis mission.

A crewed flight of Starship HLS (Human Landing System) will not take place earlier than December 2025, according to Nasa, but should occur before 2030.

If successful, it will be a modified version of this rocket that will then take humans to Mars.

First though, SpaceX needs to complete the orbital flight test.

Starship launch: Latest SpaceX photos show true scale of rocket

Wednesday 12 April 2023 18:26 , Anthony Cuthbertson

SpaceX has shared new images of its fully stacked Starship sitting on its launchpad at the Starbase facility in southern Texas.

In one image, you can see workers in a crane at the base of the booster, showing off the true scale of the Mars-bound rocket.

Weather looks good, once regulatory approval is granted that will be the final hurdle before an orbital launch attempt can be made.

Starship launch: SpaceX working on ‘Elon time’?

Wednesday 12 April 2023 15:01 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The current status of Starship is “ready for launch; awaiting regulatory approval”, according to SpaceX boss Elon Musk.

The only problem is, “pending only regulatory approval” is what he said nearly two years ago. When one of his followers asked if this was “Elon Time, or real time”, he replied, “real time”.

Things at SpaceX’s Starbase facility seem far more progressed this time, so his conviction carries far more weight. The FAA also appears close to approving, with only one stumbling block potentially standing in the way of a Starship launch next week.

Starship launch: Watch SpaceX’s latest mission to Mars demo

Wednesday 12 April 2023 11:33 , Anthony Cuthbertson

SpaceX has updated its ‘Starship Mission to Mars’ demo, showing a computer generated vision of what it will look like for the rocket to launch into space.

It features an animation of the Starship stage separation, as well as the booster landing back at the launch site for refuelling.

The Starship rocket meanwhile continues its journey to Mars, landing alongside other Starship rockets at an already inhabited colony.

An early version of the video was originally used at a SpaceX event in 2016. You can watch the latest version here:

Starship launch: SpaceX says no rehearsal this week

Wednesday 12 April 2023 08:24 , Anthony Cuthbertson

SpaceX says it will not do a launch rehearsal this week, but is still aiming for the orbital flight test as early as next week. It’s not clear if a rehearsal will take place at all, having already completed a static fire test of both the Starship rocket and the Super Heavy booster.

The only thing currently standing in Starship’s way is regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, who will hopefully have a decision on the environmental compliance review soon. There has never been a launch like this, which could account for the approval delays.

Starship launch: What date will the SpaceX rocket lift off?

Tuesday 11 April 2023 19:13 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Starship is ready for launch, Elon Musk has said, only regulatory approval is standing in the way.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given a number of updates in recent days, with the latest report suggesting the date will be on or soon after 17 April.

This is the latest statement we have from the FAA:

FAA

Starship launch: How big is the SpaceX rocket?

Tuesday 11 April 2023 17:55 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Starship and its Super Heavy Booster will produce nearly twice the thrust of Nasa’s Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently the most powerful rocket ever made.

SpaceX is building such a massive rocket in order to meet Musk’s goal of transporting people and cargo across the Solar System. In order to reach the Moon and Mars with significant payloads, Starship has been equipped with six engines, while the Super Heavy has a further 33 – producing a projected 7.25 million kg of thrust.

Here’s how its actual size compares to other huge rockets throughout history:

Hello and welcome...

Tuesday 11 April 2023 17:12 , Anthony Cuthbertson

to The Independent’s live coverage of SpaceX’s preparations to launch its Starship rocket into orbit.

The biggest spacecraft ever built is ready for lift-off, according to chief exec Elon Musk, though regulators are still performing the final approval checks. A report from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has marked 17 April as a primary launch date, with 18-22 April listed as backup dates.

We’ll be bringing you all the latest news and updates of the next-generation rocket, which Musk hopes to one day use to colonise Mars.