Daily Archives: March 16, 2024

Update for 9:58 a.m. ET: SpaceX successfully launched Starship on its third integrated test flight. Read our full coverage here.

SpaceX is set to perform the third orbital test of its Starship rocket on Thursday (March 14), and you can watch the event for free online.

Standing over 400 feet (122 meters) tall, this huge rocket consists of two parts. The first is a stainless steel, reusable upper stage that's known also as "Starship," and the second is a Super Heavy first-stage booster. Starship is currently the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. Its ultimate aim is to help astronauts journey to the moon, and eventually Mars, as they embark on more sustained space missions and perhaps start creating settlements on the alien worlds.

SpaceX said on Wednesday (March 13) that Thursday's launch window will be 110 minutes long and will open at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), but early Thursday the company said it is now targeting 9:25 a.m. EDT (1325 GMT) for the liftoff. The company will stream the event beginning at 8:52 a.m. EDT (1252 GMT). A livestream of the rocket's test will also be available to watch on Space.com's YouTube channel here.

Related: SpaceX eyes March 14 for 3rd Starship test flight

"The third flight test aims to build on what we've learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship's payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stages coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship," SpaceX wrote on its Starship mission website. "It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean. This new flight path enables us to attempt new techniques like in-space engine burns while maximizing public safety."

These objectives make this third flight of Starship more ambitious than the rocket's previous two flights.

Starship flew its first mission from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas in April 2023. This launch ended after the rocket's two stages failed to separate, and it intentionally detonated just four minutes after blast-off.

The second flight of Starship in November 2023 was marginally more successful, with the space vehicle achieving a nominal first-stage engine burn and its two stages separating on schedule.Around eight minutes after launch, however, the rocket exploded during a venting of liquid oxygen. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said that this explosion wouldn't have happened if Starship had been carrying a payload on the second flight because, in that scenario, it wouldn't have been hauling liquid oxygen.

Prior to the third test flight of Starship, SpaceXperformed a critical fueling testat its Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas. During the test, over 10 million pounds of liquid methane and liquid oxygen were poured into the rocket.

"Starship Flight 3 is preparing for launch," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote in a post on X, along with accompanying photos of the fueling test.

Editor's note: This story was updated on March 14 at 8:30 a.m. with a new 9:25 a.m. EDT launch time for SpaceX's Starship Flight 3.

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How to watch SpaceX's 3rd Starship launch test live online today - Space.com

Update for 9:58 a.m. ET: SpaceX successfully launched Starship on its third integrated test flight. Read our full coverage here.

SpaceX is hoping to launch its first Starship test of 2024 as early as Thursday (March 14) in what it hopes will be a historic orbital flight of the world's biggest rocket, and if you need to know when to watch it online, you're in the right place.

SpaceX is targeting March 14 for the launch from its Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. The announced on X that Starship has a 110-minute window on Thursday, with liftoff targeted for 9:25 a.m. EDT (1325 GMT), about 30 minutes in.

The company will webcast the launch attempt, beginning at 8:52 a.m. EDT (1252 GMT). You can watch the livestream here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX. There is a 70% chance of good weather at launch time, SpaceX has said.

Related: See our SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy guide for a detailed look

SpaceX's Starship vehicle and its Super Heavy booster are the world's tallest and most powerful rocket. When stacked together, they stand 400 feet tall (122 meters), with the first stage powered by 33 Raptor engines, while the Starship upper stage carries six Raptors.

SpaceX has designed the Starship launch system to be fully reusable and hopes to use it for deep-space exploration, heavy-lift launches and space tourism. The company has already sold two private trips around the moon on Starship, with NASA picking Starship to land its Artemis 3 astronauts on the moon by 2026. But first, SpaceX has to prove its Starship can reach orbit, let alone the moon, and has failed to do so in two previous attempts in April and November of 2023. Here's what we know about Flight 3, SpaceX's third Starship test launch.

Today, SpaceX is targeting March 14 at 9:25 a.m. EDT (8:25 a.m. CDT/1325 GMT) for its third Starship test flight. That's about 30 minutes into a 110-minute launch window that opens at 8 a.m. EDT. The company will air a livestream of the liftoff, beginning at 8:52 a.m. EDT (1252 GMT ) on March 14.

SpaceX's first Starship test flight launched on April 20, 2023 but never reached space. It was intentionally destroyed after its two stages failed to separate. A second test flight on Nov. 18 did manage to reach space, but not its target altitude. The Super Heavy booster separated successfully from the Starship upper stage, but both vehicles eventually were destroyed shortly after stage separation.

"Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test," SpaceX wrote in a Flight 3 mission description. "They aren't occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning."

Related: How to watch SpaceX's 3rd Starship launch test online

Yes, you can watch SpaceX's third Starship launch online, and you'll likely have a few options by which to do so.

SpaceX will provide a livestream of the Starship launch on its @SpaceX account on X (formerly Twitter), starting 30 minutes before liftoff that is, at 8:52 a.m. EDT (1252 GMT).

But, and this is very important, SpaceX's plans could change.

"As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our X account for updates," the company wrote in a mission overview.

SpaceX's livestream of the Starship Flight 3 launch will also be carried by Space.com on YouTube and will be embedded at the top of this page.

You can also find several independent livestreams of SpaceX's Starship launch that should include live commentary and views.

One site we like to follow is NASASpaceflight.com, which offers regular daily livestreams of Starship testing activities at the Starbase facility. The site will have extensive YouTube livestream coverage, likely beginning in the hours before SpaceX's own webcast. Another option is Everyday Astronaut, which provides live Starship launch coverage and commentary as well.

If you happen to be in the Boca Chica, Texas area and are hoping to view the launch in person, you have several options.

There is no official SpaceX viewing site, but you can pick from several public beach areas from which you can see the launch. The nearby South Padre Island offers clear views of the rocket from the shoreline around Cameron County Amphitheater and Isla Blanca Park. Similar viewing areas can be found around the nearby shore of Port Isabel and the surrounding areas.

I actually watched Starship Flight 1 launch in April 2023 from the South Padre Island shore near Cameron County Amphitheater, and it does offer unobstructed views, with crowds lining the beach and on boats in the harbor. However, you will want to bring a folding beach chair, water and sunscreen. (There are bathrooms on site.)

Wherever you opt to watch the launch from, plan to arrive very early as traffic can cause lengthy delays reaching observing sites.

The first two Starship test flights were designed to last 90 minutes, with the Starship vehicle reaching orbital speeds (if not actually entering orbit) and then returning to Earth with a reentry and splashdown off the coast of Hawaii.

Things may happen more quickly on Flight 3. SpaceX's mission description says that Starship's upper stage will splash down about 65 minutes after liftoff, if all goes according to plan.

There will be other differences as well.

"The third flight test aims to build on what weve learned from previous flights while attempting a number of ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship's payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage's coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship," SpaceX wrote in its mission description. "It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splash down in the Indian Ocean. This new flight path enables us to attempt new techniques like in-space engine burns while maximizing public safety."

Related: SpaceX to push the envelope on 3rd Starship launch

SpaceX's first Starship flight aimed to reach an altitude of 146 miles (234 kilometers) while traversing a flight path that aimed to splash down in the Pacific Ocean about 140 miles (225 km) from the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. The second flight path was largely the same.

While Starship aims for a different splashdown zone on Flight 3, the Super Heavy booster is still expected to make a soft landing and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, miles offshore from Boca Chica Beach.

If SpaceX is unable to launch on March 14, the company will likely make sure it has at least one or two backup days handy.

Officials with Cameron County, the Texas county that is home to SpaceX's Starbase facility, have released a beach closure advisory that suggests road closures around Starbase through March 16, hinting at possible backup dates. SpaceX has not set a specific range for launch dates, however.

Any second launch attempt would likely depend on how far into the fueling process SpaceX gets for Flight 3's first try. SpaceX has said it can take up to several days to resupply its propellant depot for a Starship launch, since the massive rocket and booster consume more than 10 million pounds of super-chilled liquid methane and liquid oxygen propellant.

If Space delays Flight 3 due to a technical glitch or malfunction, the timing of a new attempt would likely hinge on how long it takes to address the issue.

Editor's note: This story was updated on March 14 at 8:30 a.m. with a new 9:25 a.m. EDT launch time for SpaceX's Starship Flight 3.

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What time is SpaceX's 3rd Starship launch test on today? - Space.com

SpaceX's Starship rocket just reached orbit for the very first time, but now it's gotten lost upon reentry.

The giant rocket the biggest and most powerful ever built blasted off from its launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on Thursday (March 14) at 9:25 a.m. EDT (1:25 p.m. GMT), entering the stratosphere just minutes later with a record-breaking 16.5 million pounds (7.5 million kilograms) of thrust. Standing 394 feet (120 meters) tall, Starship can carry 10 times the payload of SpaceX's current Falcon 9 rockets.

The launch is the rocket's third test flight, and its first one to reach orbit; the previous two ended in dramatic explosions of the craft's 33-engine Super Heavy booster rocket that culminated in an environmental lawsuit. After conducting a number of maneuvers during the spacecraft's hour-long flight in orbit, mission control reportedly lost contact with Starship as it reentered Earth's atmosphere somewhere over the Indian Ocean.

Starship likely broke up or exploded over the ocean, SpaceX confirmed.

"The team has made the call that the ship has been lost, so no splashdown today," Dan Huot, SpaceX's communications manager, said during the company's livestream of the launch. "But again, just it's incredible to see how much further we got this time around."

Related: Controversial paper claims satellite 'megaconstellations' like SpaceX's could weaken Earth's magnetic field and cause 'atmospheric stripping.' Should we be worried?

"Starship reached orbital velocity!" Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX wrote in a post on X, formerly called Twitter, shortly after the successful launch. "Congratulations SpaceX team!!"

Once the rocket was in flight, mission engineers completed a number of tests, including re-lighting its engines in space and opening its payload door, before steering the craft back to splash down in the Indian Ocean. However, during reentry, the team lost contact with Starlink SpaceX's satellite internet service and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System that it uses to keep an eye on its rockets.

SpaceX intends to use future versions of Starship to transport crews, spacecraft, satellites and cargo to various locations in the solar system both for its own purposes and on behalf of NASA. The U.S. space agency is slated to use Starship's Human Landing System to transport humans to the moon's surface for the first time since 1972, for the upcoming Artemis 3 and 4 missions.

Starship is designed primarily with cheap and efficient manufacturing in mind, using inexpensive stainless steel for its construction and methane which SpaceX says can be collected on Mars to power the rocket. It is designed to be reusable and can carry a payload of up to 275 tons (250 metric tons) in its non-reusable state, around 10 times that of SpaceX's current Falcon 9 rockets.

SpaceX doesn't appear to be too concerned about its misplaced rocket and often states that failures during early test phases are normal.

"Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test," SpaceX said in a statement released before the launch. "They aren't occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning."

Continued here:

SpaceX's incredibly powerful Starship lost in the Indian Ocean after reaching orbit for 1st time - Livescience.com

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday granted SpaceX a license that allows the company to launch its massive Starship rocket again, possibly as early as 8 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, though weather at its South Texas facilities could force a delay.

The flight would be the third attempt to reach orbit for the worlds most powerful rocket, a towering two-stage vehicle that NASA intends to use to land astronauts on the moon. During the first test flight, in April of last year, the vehicle blew up its launchpad, started tumbling after liftoff and eventually exploded. SpaceX which follows an iterative approach to the development of its systems, allowing them to fail and then trying again quickly flew a second attempt in November that showed improvement, though the rocket self-destructed before reaching orbit.

The vehicle, collectively called Starship, comprised the Super Heavy booster and a spacecraft that sits on top. It is designed to be fully reusable, landing back at its launch site. NASA is investing about $4 billion into the system and intends to use it for the first human landings on the moon since the Apollo era.

In a statement, SpaceX said that the 110-minute launch window would open at 8 a.m. Eastern and that its webcast would go live about 30 minutes before.

On Starships last flight, upgrades to the launchpad, including a water suppression system, allowed it to survive the violence of takeoff, when all of the rockets 33 first-stage engines successfully ignited. The vehicle made it through stage separation, and the upper-stage engines fired as well. But as the booster started to ignite 13 of its engines to fly the rocket back to Earth, one engine failed, quickly cascading to a rapid unscheduled disassembly, the phrase SpaceX uses to describe a loss of vehicle. The spacecraft was lost after a leak led to a fire and its autonomous onboard flight termination system destroyed the vehicle.

After the flight, the FAA oversaw SpaceXs investigation and said in February that it had accepted the companys report. As a result, the FAA required SpaceX to complete 17 corrective actions, including hardware redesigns, updates to engine-control algorithms and the installation of fire protection measures.

SpaceX said that upgrades derived from the flight test will debut on the next Starship and Super Heavy vehicles. It added in a subsequent statement that each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test. They arent occurring in a lab or on a test stand but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning.

See the article here:

SpaceXs Starship gets FAA approval for third test flight - The Washington Post

SpaceXs Starship rocket launches for a third time in program history on Thursday, March 14, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now

SpaceXs Starship rocket took to the skies over Texas for a third time Thursday morning. The launch, approved on Wednesday afternoon by the Federal Aviation Administration, managed to navigate some tricky weather on its ascent.

Liftoff of the worlds tallest rocket currently flying took place at 8:25 a.m. CT (9:25 a.m. ET, 1325 UTC), towards the back end of a 110-minute window. The vehicle was stacked for launch late last week at SpaceXs Starbase launch and manufacturing site in southern Texas near Brownsville.

The mission represents the shortest time between second and third flights for a commercial, orbital rocket. Both the Falcon 1 and the Falcon 9 spent more than a year between those two flights.

This mission flew a markedly different flight path compared to the previous two missions. SpaceX sent the Ship 28 upper stage nearly halfway around the world, with a splash down in the middle of the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar, as the intended target.

SpaceX lost contact with Ship 28 nearly an hour after liftoff, but before its intended splashdown. The Super Heavy Booster 10 first stage also fell just short of reaching its full own full splashdown profile in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a similar fashion to the crewed launches at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, a group of astronauts also performed a flyby of the rocket currently perched on the Orbital Launch Mount at Starbase ahead of the launch. This time, it was a pair of jets owned by businessman Jared Isaacman, which carried the crew of the forthcoming Polaris Dawn mission.

The third flight of the Polaris program is set to feature the first crewed launch of a Starship rocket.

Unlike the first two flights of Starship, the FAA issued a pair of primary documents connected to this mission: a Tiered Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision (FONSI/ROD).

The FONSI concluded that pivoting to a splashdown in the Indian Ocean as opposed to off the coast of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean (as was the aim for the first two Starship launches) would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment within the meaning of NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act of 1969).

Because of that, the FAA determined that they wouldnt need to create a new Environmental Impact Statement. The FAA also agreed with SpaceXs proposed action that would allow for a total of ten nominal operations, including up to a maximum of five overpressure events from Starship intact impact and up to a total of five reentry debris or soft water landings in the Indian Ocean, within a year of issuance of a concurrence letter from that National Marine Fisheries Service.

In response to a post on X, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that they were aiming for at least six more flights this year.

Ramping up the cadence of Starship flights is going to be important not only for SpaceXs ambitions with the program, but also for NASA.

Starship needs to launch several times successfully to prove its viability to work as the lander that will bring NASAs astronauts to the surface of the Moon during the Artemis 3 mission, which is currently set for September 2026.

Before that happens though, they will need to perfect the ability to transfer propellant from one Starship rocket to another, which in and of itself will require 10 launches or more. SpaceX will also need to perform an uncrewed landing on the Moon, which is currently scheduled for sometime in 2026 as well.

During IFT-3, teams also performed a propellant transfer demonstration within the Ship 28 upper stage. SpaceX also intended to demonstrate a relight of one of the Ship Raptor engines as well as open and close the payload bay door during the coast phase of the mission, but they had to skip the engine demo.

In an effort to help long-term infrastructure, SpaceX is also exploring acquiring Space Launch Complex-37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as a possible launch site for Starship once its no longer supporting United Launch Alliances (ULA) Delta 4 Heavy rocket.

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is overseeing this process and recently held in-person, public meetings along Floridas Space Coast as well as a virtual meeting. All the comments gathered will be assessed against the proposal and a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) will be issued in December 2024 with a final EIS anticipated by September 2025.

The rest is here:

SpaceX launches Starship on the third flight test of the program Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now

SpaceX's latest Starship megarocket is poised for its highly anticipated liftoff.

SpaceX has stacked the 400-foot-tall (122 meters) vehicle on the pad at its Starbase site in South Texas, the company announced via X today (March 12). That post also included two photos of the newly stacked Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built.

Stacking is a big step toward launch, which SpaceX has said could occur as soon as Thursday (March 14).

Related: SpaceX fuels up massive Starship megarocket in test for 3rd launch (photos)

SpaceX is developing Starship to help humanity settle the moon and Mars. The fully reusable vehicle has flown twice before, on test missions in April and November of last year. Both of those flights aimed to send the Starship upper stage most of the way around Earth, with splashdown targeted for a patch of the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

That didn't happen, however. Starship's two stages failed to separate during the April flight, and SpaceX detonated the tumbling vehicle intentionally about four minutes after launch. Starship did much better on flight number two, notching a number of important milestones, but both stages still ended up exploding high in the sky.

The upcoming third flight will employ a different trajectory: The target splashdown site for the Starship upper stage is the Indian Ocean rather than the Pacific.

SpaceX will also try a few other new things during the mission, among them "opening and closing Starship's payload door" and "a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage's coast phase,"SpaceXwrote in amission description.

While SpaceX is working toward a planned March 14 launch, that target date remains tentative at the moment.

As far as we know, SpaceX still doesn't have a launch license from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The agency recently wrapped up its investigation into what happened on the November 2023 test flight, but a few boxes apparently still need to be checked.

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SpaceX stacks Starship ahead of 3rd test flight (photos) - Space.com

Louisiana residents who were up and at it early Tuesday morning were able to see an amazing sight. NASA's SpaceX Crew 7 splashed down Tuesday morning around 4:45 a.m. The Dragon splashed down near Pensacola, but residents across Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana could see the spacecraft streaking across the sky. The crew had been in space for six months on the International Space Station conducting research. Slidell resident Terry Alfonso Allen captured video of the spacecraft making its landing. Watch his video in the player above.

Louisiana residents who were up and at it early Tuesday morning were able to see an amazing sight.

NASA's SpaceX Crew 7 splashed down Tuesday morning around 4:45 a.m.

The Dragon splashed down near Pensacola, but residents across Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana could see the spacecraft streaking across the sky.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

The crew had been in space for six months on the International Space Station conducting research.

Slidell resident Terry Alfonso Allen captured video of the spacecraft making its landing.

Watch his video in the player above.

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Louisiana man captures video of SpaceX crew returning to earth - WDSU New Orleans