SpaceX Moves Starship Rocket to Launch Pad for 3rd Test Flight
As it gets ready for the third test launch of its massive Starship rocket, SpaceX is not stopping.
Over the weekend, the corporation moved the two stages of its most recent Starship rocket to the launch pad at Starbase, which is located on the Gulf Coast of South Texas.
On Saturday, February 10, SpaceX shared three images from the transfer in a post on X, the previous Twitter platform, marking the milestone in the public eye.
The massive Super Heavy rocket and the 165-foot-tall (50-meter) Starship upper stage were subsequently mounted by SpaceX atop Starbase’s orbital launch pad on Saturday night (Feb. 10), according to NASASpaceflight.com.
This study is a prelude to SpaceX’s third test flight of Starship, which is scheduled to occur in the next few weeks, assuming the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grants the necessary license on time.
When SpaceX will receive the license is unknown, though. The events of Starship’s second flight, which took off from Starbase in November of last year, are currently under investigation by the FAA. During that mission, Starship performed admirably, reaching significant achievements like a successful stage separation and a nominal Super Heavy engine burn. However, Super Heavy and Starship both exploded, ending the voyage only eight minutes after takeoff.
Four minutes after takeoff, a tumbling Starship was destroyed, marking the end of the first Starship flight, which took place last April. That vehicle’s first-stage burn had some issues, and its two stages did not separate as intended.
Starship can carry up to 150 tons of cargo into low-Earth orbit and is built to be entirely and quickly reusable. The spaceship being developed by SpaceX will enable humans to go farther into space, particularly to the fourth planet from the sun.
“We are mapping out a game plan to get a million people to Mars. Civilization only passes the single-planet Great Filter when Mars can survive even if Earth supply ships stop coming,” SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said in an X post on Saturday.
