This undated photo provided by SpaceX shows the company’s Starship rocket at the launch site in Boca … [+]
Associated PressSpaceX plans to launch Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, from Starbase in Texas on Monday morning. And if you want to watch this historic occasion, there are livestreams online to let you do that.
The launch is currently scheduled for anytime during a 150-minute launch window between 8 a.m. ET and 10:30 a.m. ET on Monday, which is between 5 a.m. PT and 7:30 a.m. PT. The SpaceX livestream, which is available to watch on YouTube and at the company’s website, will go live roughly 45 minutes before the launch window at 7:15 a.m. ET/4:15 a.m. PT.
Why is this launch a big deal? While the Starship rocket has been tested before, it’s the first time the rocket will fly around the entire Earth in about 90 minutes, eventually splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX plans to use the Starship rocket to put humans on the Moon in 2025 with Artemis 3, the first time anyone has set foot on the Moon since 1972.
Artemis 2 is scheduled for November 2024, which will put astronauts on a slingshot mission around the Moon without actually landing them on the surface. But if everything goes well on Monday, space enthusiasts can start to get excited for not just putting humans on the Moon, but for the first crewed missions to Mars as well. SpaceX even released a new animated video recently showing what it might look like when we’re making routine trips to Mars.
Starship will use what SpaceX calls its Super Heavy booster, which is designed to eventually be reusable and will splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, provided everything goes to plan. That’s the silver portion of the rocket in the photo above, which will disconnect from the black portion—the Starship—once it does its job of pushing the uncrewed rocket into space.
“At 146 meters, or nearly 500 feet tall, the launch and catch tower is designed to support vehicle integration, launch, and catch of the Super Heavy rocket booster,” SpaceX explains on its website about Monday’s launch.
“For the first flight test, the team will not attempt a vertical landing of Starship or a catch of the Super Heavy booster,” the website continues.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has tried to subtly set expectations low for the launch, but the entire world will be watching as a successful orbital test flight would mean humanity is that much closer to setting foot on the Moon again.
“Success maybe, excitement guaranteed!” Musk tweeted on April 14 after the company got a thumbs up from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to conduct this historic flight test.
And while Musk has been a divisive figure lately, to say the least, it’s hard not to get excited for everything his crew at SpaceX has accomplished—and plans to accomplish in the next few years by possibly putting humans on the red planet. Cross your fingers.
