SpaceX is scheduled to launch the SN9 prototype of the starship today, in what will be the second high-altitude test of the company’s next-generation rocket. You can watch the action live right here.
Update: 4:36 pm ET: Today’s launch was erased due to strong winds. No word yet if SpaceX will try again tomorrow.
The window for today’s launch is between 1 pm and 7 pm EDT (12 pm to 6 pm CST). That said, it is difficult to predict these things, and there is no guarantee that the rocket will go up today. The test vehicle, the prototype starship SN9, is ready to be launched at the company’s facilities in Boca Chica, Texas.
There doesn’t seem to be an official SpaceX feed for today’s launch, but that won’t stop us from seeing this candle lit. We have two active feeds for you, one from LabPadre and the other one NASASpaceflight.
Not much is known about the launch scheduled for today, but it appears to be a repeat of launch of December 9, 2020, when SpaceX sent the prototype of the SN8 starship at an altitude of 7.8 miles (12.5 km). The rocket exploded in a giant fireball when trying to maintain the level.
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Other than that, the test seemed to go reasonably well, with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk describing the test as a “successful climb”. Undoubtedly, the data collected from that launch will have been used to refine what was done today, in which the rocket will once again fly at high altitude and try to land. A successful test would take the company one step closer to sending an unlocked rocket into space.
Once completed, the 50-meter-high rocket will take cargo and passengers to Earth orbit, the moon, Mars and perhaps even further into the solar system. Starship was conceived as a hybrid vehicle, performing functions as an independent rocket or as the second stage of a reusable launch system (with a SpaceX Super Heavy serving as the first stage). Incredibly, the company would like to “take”The Super Heavy booster with the launch tower arm and possibly relaunch the vehicle an hour later.