Key Takeaways:
- SpaceX will test its giant rocket designed to one day take people to the moon and Mars on Thursday.
- Starship, with a height of over 400 feet, is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built
- The latest version of Starship has several upgrades, including redesigned propulsion systems.
SpaceX plans to launch its 12th test flight for the Starship rocket on Thursday, but some things will be different this time around.
The latest version of SpaceX’s giant rocket is dubbed V3, short for version three. It has “significant upgrades” from the first two versions, according to SpaceX, including redesigned propulsion systems and the new V3 Raptor engine.
“Together, these new elements are designed to enable a step-change in Starship capabilities and aim to unlock the vehicle’s core functions, including full and rapid reuse, in-space propellant transfer, deployment of Starlink satellites and orbital data centers, and the ability to send people and cargo to the Moon and Mars,” SpaceX said on its website.
The previous test in October saw Starship successfully launch and skim space before descending into the Indian Ocean. Thursday’s test should be similar.
Starship will launch from the southern tip of Texas. While this test will be suborbital, if it goes well, the next could be the first to go into orbit around Earth.
What Is Starship?
Starship, with a height of over 400 feet, is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. It will transport astronauts and equipment from lunar orbit to the surface of the moon for NASA’s Artemis program. The Artemis program aims to establish the first long-term human presence on the moon and eventually send the first astronauts to Mars.
Starship could be the lunar taxi used in NASA’s Artemis 4 mission, which would see astronauts “travel to lunar orbit, where two crew members will descend to the surface and spend approximately a week near the South Pole of the Moon conducting new science before returning to lunar orbit to join their crew for the journey back to Earth,” according to NASA. It would be launched separately from the crew, whose capsule will dock with it in lunar orbit. The agency aims to launch the mission in 2028.
SpaceX describes Starship as a “fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon, Mars and beyond.”
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“As the most powerful launch system ever developed, Starship will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights,” according to SpaceX.
What Time Is the Starship Launch?
The 90-minute launch window starts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.