Alexander Lewis
Nov 18, 2023
This morning, November 18, 2023, SpaceX is gearing up for the second-ever launch of its massive Starship vehicle, promising an event you won't want to miss.
Scheduled for liftoff from SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas, the mammoth Starship is slated to launch within a 20-minute window opening at 8am EST.
Catch the live action here by NASA Space Flight (NSF), courtesy of SpaceX. Coverage is anticipated to commence around 7:25am EDT.
SpaceX's Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever assembled, is a pivotal development in space exploration. The launch aims to propel Starship into the skies, showcasing its capabilities, innovations, and potential applications.
This groundbreaking vehicle, towering nearly 400 feet (122 meters), comprises two components — Super Heavy, the first-stage booster, and Starship, the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) upper stage. Both segments are engineered for complete reusability, marking a monumental achievement in space technology.
Notably, this will mark the second flight of the combined Starship system. The initial test flight, launched from Starbase on April 20, encountered an issue with the separation of its stages, resulting in the vehicle's intentional destruction over the Gulf of Mexico.
Designed for lunar and Martian missions, Starship holds a critical role in NASA's Artemis program as the primary crewed lunar lander. With multiple private missions already lined up, its capabilities extend to diverse spaceflight operations, including missions closer to Earth.
In an attempt to achieve what the inaugural journey couldn't, Saturday's launch mirrors the goals of the previous flight. If successful, Super Heavy will return and splash down in the Gulf of Mexico approximately seven minutes post-launch. Meanwhile, Starship will ascend towards orbital velocity, descending for a splashdown in the Pacific near Hawaii about 90 minutes after liftoff.
Originally slated for Friday (November 17), SpaceX postponed the launch by a day to replace one of Super Heavy's grid fins — an essential component crucial for guiding the booster back to Earth post-launch.
