SpaceX’s Starship exploded mid-flight after launch ‘success’ of most powerful rocket ever built.
BOCA CHICA, Texas – Hours after the Federal Aviation Administration gave clearance for SpaceX to conduct its fourth Starship test flight from Texas, the space company announced it would attempt a launch at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday.
The FAA gave the go-ahead for Elon Musk’s company to perform the launch after it met all safety and licensing requirements for the uncrewed mission.
Attempts from its Boca Chica, Texas, facility in April and November 2023 ended in failure, with the most recent launch occurring in March, but the vehicle was lost prior to reaching its splashdown target.
Each event was followed by lengthy FAA investigations that the company hopes to avoid in order to proceed with its fifth test later this year.
SpaceX says the fourth attempt will mirror March’s mission with the goals of “achieving orbit and demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy.”
SPACEX SAYS IT’S READY FOR STARSHIP’S FOURTH TEST FLIGHT FROM TEXAS
Summer pattern shift
(FOX Weather)
Thursday’s launch window will be open for two hours, and the FOX Forecast Center says weather conditions look acceptable for the uncrewed test flight.
Due to a dome of high pressure in place, the Lone Star State is in the midst of its first summer heat wave, with temperatures bottoming out in the 80s during the nights and reaching well over 100 degrees during the day.
Nearby Corpus Christi recently reported tying its all-time warmest low temperature of 85 degrees.
For Thursday’s launch, forecasters expect temperatures to be in the 80s with mostly clear skies and calm winds during the morning hours.
Texas forecast Thursday morning lows
FAA INITIATES IMPACT STUDY FOR SPACEX MEGAROCKET LAUNCHES FROM FLORIDA
SpaceX will also be monitoring weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean, where the booster and the Starship are expected to splash down.
“The fourth flight of Starship will aim to bring us closer to the rapidly reusable future on the horizon. We’re continuing to rapidly develop Starship, putting flight hardware in a flight environment to learn as quickly as possible as we build a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” SpaceX said in a mission overview.
The nearly 400-foot-tall rocket and spacecraft are expected to carry a crew of astronauts to the Moon’s south pole as early as 2026 as part of the Artemis program.