SpaceX targeting Nov. 18 for next Starship megarocket launch
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SpaceX's Starship megarocket will fly for the sixth time ever less than two weeks from now, if all goes according to plan.
Elon Musk's company announced today (Nov. 6) that it's targeting Nov. 18 for the next Starship test flight, which will lift off from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas.
The 30-minute launch window will open at 5 p.m. EST (2100 GMT; 4 p.m. local Texas time), SpaceX wrote in an update today. The company will stream the launch live, beginning about 30 minutes before liftoff.
The 400-foot-tall (122 meters) Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. The stainless-steel vehicle consists of two fully reusable elements: a huge booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50 m) upper stage known as Starship, or simply Ship. Both of these stages are powered by SpaceX's next-gen Raptor engine — 33 for Super Heavy and six for Ship.
Related: Starship and Super Heavy explained
A fully stacked Starship has launched five times to date, in April and November of 2023 and March, June and October of this year. The vehicle has performed better on each successive flight, and the most recent one, which took place on Oct. 13, featured a landmark moment in spaceflight history: Super Heavy came back for a controlled landing beside its launch tower, which caught the the booster with its "chopstick" arms.
Flight 6 will feature another booster catch, if all goes according to plan.
"The next Starship flight test aims to expand the envelope on ship and booster capabilities and get closer to bringing reuse of the entire system online," SpaceX wrote in today's update.
"Objectives include the booster once again returning to the launch site for catch, reigniting a ship Raptor engine while in space, and testing a suite of heatshield experiments and maneuvering changes for ship reentry and descent over the Indian Ocean," the company added.
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The Flight 6 Starship features some improvements over its predecessors, according to the update.
"Hardware upgrades for this flight add additional redundancy to booster propulsion systems, increase structural strength at key areas, and shorten the timeline to offload propellants from the booster following a successful catch," SpaceX wrote. "Mission designers also updated software controls and commit criteria for the booster’s launch and return."
Eventually, SpaceX wants to land both Super Heavy and Ship directly on the launch mount, to speed up the inspection, refurbishment and reflight process. The company believes that Starship's combination of power and efficiency will revolutionize spaceflight, helping humanity colonize Mars and achieve a variety of other bold exploration feats.
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