SpaceX, the private space company founded by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, is planning to make history with its ambitious Starship program. On Monday, April 17, SpaceX will attempt to launch the first orbital test flight of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket from its Starbase facility in Texas.
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. The development of Starship is critical to the future of human space exploration, as it will make space travel more accessible and cost-effective. The success of this test will help inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship.
SpaceX has announced that it is targeting as soon as Monday, April 17 for the test flight, with a 150-minute launch window opening at 7:30 A.M. CT. However, the launch date and time are subject to change depending on weather conditions, technical issues, or other factors.
To date, SpaceX has completed multiple sub-orbital flight tests of Starship’s upper stage from Starbase, successfully demonstrating an unprecedented approach to controlled flight. These flight tests helped validate the vehicle’s design, proving Starship can fly through the subsonic phase of entry before re-lighting its engines and flipping itself to a vertical configuration for landing.
In addition to the testing of Starship’s upper stage, the SpaceX team has conducted numerous tests of the Super Heavy rocket, which include the increasingly complex static fires that led to a full-duration 31 Raptor engine test – the largest number of simultaneous rocket engine ignitions in history. The team has also constructed the world’s tallest rocket launch and catch tower. 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.
For the first flight test, the team will not attempt a vertical landing of Starship or a catch of the Super Heavy booster. However, the test will still be exciting, and the SpaceX team will be closely monitoring the test to learn as much as possible. A live webcast of the flight test will begin approximately 45 minutes before liftoff. As with all developmental testing, this schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to SpaceX’s social media channels for updates.
The flight test timeline provides a rough idea of what to expect during the test. Completion of the milestones below is not required for a successful test, but each milestone completed will make for an exciting test. The timeline is as follows:
- 00:00:55: Max Q (Moment of Peak Mechanical Stress on the Rocket)
- 00:02:49: Booster Main Engine Cutoff
- 00:02:52: Stage Separation
- 00:02:57: Starship Ignition
- 00:03:11: Booster Boostback Burn Startup
- 00:04:06: Booster Boostback Burn Shutdown
- 00:07:32: Booster is Transonic
- 00:07:40: Booster Landing Burn Startup
- 00:08:03: Booster Landing Burn Shutdown
- 00:09:20: Starship Engine Cutoff
- 01:17:21: Starship Entry
- 01:28:43: Starship is Transonic
- 01:30:00: Starship Splashdown
SpaceX will provide a live webcast of the test flight on its website and YouTube channel, starting about 15 minutes before liftoff. You can also follow SpaceX on Twitter for updates and announcements.
The test flight will be a historic milestone for SpaceX and its Starship program, which aims to revolutionize space transportation and exploration. If successful, it will pave the way for more ambitious missions in the near future, such as sending cargo and crew to the moon under NASA’s Artemis program, launching hundreds of Starlink satellites at once to provide global internet access, or even sending humans to Mars in the next decade.
