Blastoff! How & When To Watch The SpaceX Starship Rocket Launch
You don’t want to miss this.
SpaceX has set a new launch date for its Starship and Super Heavy rocket booster launch! On April 17, SpaceX, the company owned by Elon Musk, attempted to launch the most powerful rocket ever built into space, called the Starship. The initial launch was called off minutes before the planned takeoff time, but if you love to watch rockets leap into the sky, don’t worry. A new launch date has already been scheduled, and you can live stream the event (if it goes off without a hitch, that is).
When is the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket launching?
On Monday, the Super Heavy rocket booster was expected to catapult the Starship spacecraft into the sky on the coast of South Texas. Unfortunately, the launch was called off when SpaceX said there was an issue with the pressurization, according to CNN.
After needing to reschedule the launch, a new date has been set for the SpaceX crew to attempt another liftoff.
“SpaceX is targeting as soon as Thursday, April 20, for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Starbase in Texas,” the company says.
The 62-minute launch window starts at 9:28 a.m. ET and closes at 10:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, April 20.
What are the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket and Starship spacecraft going to do?
The Super Heavy booster rocket isn’t going to leave the atmosphere. Instead, it will use up all its fuel in just over two minutes before separating from the Starship spacecraft.
The Starship spacecraft will leave the atmosphere, however, where it will do nearly one full lap of the planet before re-entering the atmosphere. “The spacecraft is expected to splash down off the coast about an hour and a half after liftoff,” CNN notes.
The Super Heavy booster rocket, when it separates from the Starship, will be discarded in the ocean.
The eventual long-term goal of Starship will be a way for people to travel to space in the same way we use airplanes.
“Starship is a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond,” a write-up on SpaceX explains. “With a test such as this, success is measured by how much we can learn, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances [the] development of Starship.”
However, in the near term, SpaceX will use the Starship to transport satellites into orbit for internet-based services and other needs.
How can I watch the SpaceX Starship launch?
It’s super easy.
Just tune into SpaceX’s official YouTube channel, where they will be playing a live stream of the rocket launch on Thursday, April 20. As a reminder, the launch window starts at 9:28 a.m. ET and closes at 10:30 a.m. ET on Thursday morning. (The link to the official SpaceX live stream is here.)
The live stream will begin at 8:45 a.m. ET on April 20, some 45 minutes before the launch window opens.
