Starship launch news – live: SpaceX cancels rocket test and explains plans for new attempt

SpaceX is finally launching its Mars-bound Starship craft into orbit.

But the first attempt has been postponed after a “pressurisation issue” caused the company to pull the launch with just minutes to go.

Now the world is waiting for the announcement of a new date, after SpaceX has investigated the issue and how quickly it can be available to launch again.

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.

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

• Everything you need to know about today’s launch

• ... and how to watch live

• How big is Starship?

• What will Starship do?

Full story on today’s postponement

Monday 17 April 2023 14:52 , Andrew Griffin

Here’s the full rundown on what happened today (and, notably, what didn’t).

Elon Musk reacts to cancellation – and says new attempt will be a ‘few days'

Monday 17 April 2023 14:31 , Andrew Griffin

Elon Musk, who had been pessimistic about the chances of a successful launch today, says that lessons have been learned from today’s launch.

We still don’t know when the next launch will be but he says a “few days”.

(Sorry to keep going on about this, but 4/20 is just a few days away...)

SpaceX expecting a ‘minimum of 48 hours’ before it can go again

Monday 17 April 2023 14:20 , Andrew Griffin

We’ve not got a new date for the launch. But SpaceX says it will be at least 48 hours.

(That takes us very close to Thursday, which is 4/20 and one of Elon Musk’s favourite dates.)

The extra delay is because it got very close to the launch, so there’s more to reverse.

Countdown happening as usual

Monday 17 April 2023 14:18 , Andrew Griffin

With five minutes to go, everything looks like the launch is continuing. That’s because the wet dress rehearsal is a real rehearsal: everything is happening as it would on the day.

Today’s launch will probably not happen, SpaceX announces

Monday 17 April 2023 14:14 , Andrew Griffin

The “pressurisation issue” means that the plan is to treat today like a wet dress rehearsal. So it will still continue with the countdown, but won’t actually take off at the very end.

That won’t be confirmed right until the end: at any point up to T-10 seconds, SpaceX can decide that they will press go instead.

10 minutes left to launch

Monday 17 April 2023 14:10 , Andrew Griffin

We’re now in single-digit minutes. Launch is schedule for 10 minutes from now.

(No update on those issues mentioned below, however.)

SpaceX dealing with ‘pressurisation issue'

Monday 17 April 2023 14:05 , Andrew Griffin

Sensors have detected a problem with pressurisation on the rocket, SpaceX says. Engineers are working to fix it.

If they can’t, then they can hold the count. But they’d be likely to treat today’s launch as a dress rehearsal and use another of the launch windows.

In the meantime, the rocket is still being loaded with its propellant.

(There’s also still one boat in the way, SpaceX said. The coastguard are working to move it.)

Weather is good – but SpaceX is watching for winds

Monday 17 April 2023 13:58 , Andrew Griffin

Everything is looking good for the launch so far, SpaceX said. Weather is nice, and the range has been almost entirely cleared of boats.

The only thing it is watching is for winds, which are currently fine but could pick up later in the window.

If something does go wrong today, then SpaceX will have the option of postponing and trying again in 24 or 48 hours. Which of those they choose will depend on how far they get through the countdown.

Monday 17 April 2023 13:52 , Andrew Griffin

Here on this imagery from SpaceX, you can see how much of the rocket is made up of Starship itself, the actual spacecraft that humans could one day use to fly to the Moon.

The rest is made of the the ‘Super Heavy’ booster. That will drop off early in the mission and drop into the water. (Usually it would aim to land again for re-use, but SpaceX has decided this test is already ambitious enough and it won’t be doing that this time around.)

Both of those pieces have been tested, to various degrees, before. But today’s launch will be the first time that the two of them have been attached together and then shot into space.

Starship soars above the ground

Monday 17 April 2023 13:49 , Andrew Griffin

The rocket is standing proud on its pad in south Texas. We’re seeing some stunning images of it as morning arrives, with just over half an hour to go.

(SpaceX has noted that the view won’t be quite as good once the rocket sets off; at home on the launchpad, there are a whole load of cameras available to look at, but the live coverage will become a little less spectacular once the journey begins.)

Musk sounds confident

Monday 17 April 2023 13:37 , Andrew Griffin

Elon Musk has tweeted about proceedings. It’s notable less for the update –everything is proceeding on schedule – but more the fact that he sounds confident we will get liftoff.

Yesterday he said there was a good chance that the launch will be postponed. (It still very much could be, of course.)

Fueling begins

Monday 17 April 2023 13:34 , Andrew Griffin

The ‘Super Heavy’ booster is now getting fueled up, SpaceX says. (This is important for at least a couple of reasons: the fuel is obviously required to lift off the ground, but it also turns the rocket into a much more dangerous thing should anything go wrong.)

SpaceX sets new target time

Monday 17 April 2023 12:54 , Andrew Griffin

SpaceX is now targeting 8.20am local time, or 2.20pm in the UK, it has said in a tweet.

Tim Peake says launch will ‘herald a new era of deep space exploration'

Monday 17 April 2023 11:50 , Andrew Griffin

British astronaut Tim Peake is excited about today’s launch. He says it will be responsible for a “new era of deep space exploration”.

“SpaceX really is thinking big with Starship. This is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. But its ambition goes way beyond its gargantuan size: it is hoped that the rocket will herald a new era of deep space exploration, unlocking the potential for humans to visit other planets,” he said.

“This programme could be the launchpad for hugely exciting scientific research. I’m convinced that collaboration with commercial operators like SpaceX is vital for pushing the boundaries and enabling this new era of deep space exploration.”

Animation shows route of spacecraft as it flies around the Earth

Monday 17 April 2023 10:58 , Andrew Griffin

Here’s a neat little animation showing the journey that Starship will take when (or if) it lifts off today. You can see the two parts splitting, then the spacecraft making its way all around the Earth before splashing down in the sea.

Grimes celebrates upcoming orbit

Monday 17 April 2023 09:38 , Andrew Griffin

Musician Grimes, Elon Musk’s sometime partner, seems to be attending the launch. She’s posted a tweet that seems to be celebrating.

Elon Musk says he ‘doesn’t expect launch to happen’ in Twitter space

Monday 17 April 2023 09:29 , Andrew Griffin

Elon Musk says there’s a “good chance” today’s launch will get postponed. And if it doesn’t, then there’s a good chance it will go wrong when it happens.

“I guess I would just like to set expectations... low,” he said. “If we get far enough away from the launchpad before something goes wrong, I would consider that to be a success.”

If SpaceX sees “anything that gives us concern” it will postpone the launch, he said. (Musk has already predicted a launch on Thursday – which would be 4/20, a favourite date of his – so he seems to be factoring in a delay.)

“If we do launch, we’ll consider anything that does not result in the destruction of the [...] launch pad [...] a win.”

That’s what he said in a Twitter space, on Sunday evening, held to mark the upcoming launch.

You can listen to the full thing on YouTube below, thanks to Remo Uherek, who recorded it.

SpaceX shares new images of ‘fully stacked’ Starship waiting to go

Monday 17 April 2023 09:18 , Andrew Griffin

SpaceX has shared new images of Starship waiting on its launchpad.

Even before it takes off, these pictures show the biggest rocket ever made. But that will obviously be a lot more impressive once it actually gets going.

Everything you need to know about today’s launch

Monday 17 April 2023 09:11 , Andrew Griffin

... and here’s everything you need to know about the launch: what will happen, what won’t, when, and more.

How to watch live

Monday 17 April 2023 09:09 , Andrew Griffin

Here’s everything you need to know about following the historic launch, live.

Starship gets launch time

Monday 17 April 2023 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.