SpaceX launches test of Starship megarocket

By AFP 14 March 2024, 3:29 pm

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SpaceX attempts another launch of Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket that is vital to NASA’s plans for landing astronauts on the Moon later this decade — and Elon Musk’s hopes of eventually colonizing Mars.

Two previous attempts have ended in spectacular explosions, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing: The company has adopted a rapid trial-and-error approach in order to accelerate development, and the strategy has brought success in the past.

Blastoff from the company’s launch site in southeast Texas was planned for 8:10 local time (1310 GMT) with weather 70 percent favorable, SpaceX says.

SpaceX is running a webcast on its website.

When the two stages of Starship are combined, the rocket stands 397 feet (121 meters) tall — beating the Statue of Liberty by a comfortable 90 feet.

Its Super Heavy Booster produces 16.7 million pounds (74.3 Meganewtons) of thrust, almost double that of the world’s second most powerful rocket, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) — though the latter is now certified, while Starship is still a prototype.