Elon Musk’s stated goal of putting humans on Mars relies heavily on the development of a next-generation reusable spacecraft, and Starship (formerly known as Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR) is ready for its first orbital test flight.
It’s not the “six months” goal Musk projected in 2019, but after a number of suborbital tests that included some terrific successes and fantastic, fiery failures, the big day is finally almost here.
With just over five minutes to go before its first scheduled launch attempt Monday morning, SpaceX announced that, due to a pressurization issue with the first stage, the attempt became a “wet dress rehearsal,” and the countdown ended with 10 seconds to go. SpaceX’s second attempt is scheduled for April 20th, with a launch window open between 8:28AM CT (9:28AM ET) and 9:30AM CT (10:30AM ET).
The live video feed will be available right here:
If all goes according to plan, the Starship will fly to orbital velocity after separating from its Super Heavy booster rocket about three minutes into the trip and then splash down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
The entire trip should take about 90 minutes to complete, and SpaceX is livestreaming the events on its YouTube channel.
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