SpaceX is scheduled to launch the prototype Starship SN9 later today, in what will be the company’s second next-generation rocket altitude test. You can watch the action live right here.
The window for today’s launch is between 1:00 and 19:00 EDT (12:00 to 18:00 CST). That said, it is difficult to predict these things and there is no guarantee that the rocket will go up even today. The test vehicle, the Starship SN9 prototype, is launched of the company facilities in Boca Chica, Texas.
There seems to be no official SpaceX feed for today’s launch, but that won’t stop us from seeing how this candle lights up. We have two live feeds for you, one of LabPadre and the other of NASASpaceflight.
Not much is known about today’s scheduled release, but it looks like it’s a replay of people without a team launch as of December 9, 2020, when SpaceX sent the prototype Starship SN8 to an altitude of 12.5 km (7.8 miles). The rocket exploded in one giant fireball while trying to stick the landing.
Other than that, the test seemed to go reasonably well, with Elon Musk, CEO of EspaiX, describing the test as a “successful climb.” No doubt the data collected during this release will have been used to refine one performed today, in which the rocket will fly again at high altitude and try to land. A successful test would move the company to approach the launch of an unmanned Starship rocket space.
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Once finished, the 50-meter-high (50-meter) rocket will come out with luck delivery of goods and passengers into Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and perhaps even far awaytowards the solar system. Starship is designed as a hybrid vehicle, performing tasks 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 “catch”The Super Heavy reinforcement with the launch tower arm and possibly restart the vehicle an hour later.