What we're covering
• SpaceX has launched what could be an unprecedented test flight of Starship — the most powerful launch vehicle ever constructed — from the company’s facilities in Starbase, Texas.
• Minutes after liftoff at 5:47 p.m. ET, SpaceX attempted to guide the Super Heavy rocket booster back to a pinpoint landing at its South Texas launch tower, called Mechazilla, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The company has attempted, and succeeded in, this maneuver only three times before.
• The Starship spacecraft reached orbit, where it deployed Starlink internet satellites and is expected to spend 22 hours circling Earth.
• At the end of the mission, SpaceX will aim to guide the Starship spacecraft back from orbit and to a controlled upright landing within the arms of the Mechazilla launch tower. Such a feat has never been attempted in the history of rocketry.
Updates
(29)See how Starship stacks up to the largest rockets ever
Starship is the biggest rocket ever created — by far.
The towering megarocket stands at nearly 400 feet (121 meters) tall and, with the debut of Version 3, packs around 18 million pounds of force at liftoff.
Here’s how it stacks up to some of the largest rockets ever constructed, past and present.
- Saturn V: The famous NASA rocket that powered the Apollo moon landings of the 20th century put out about 7.6 million pounds of thrust at takeoff. That’s still less than half of Starship’s expected power. It stood at about 360 feet (110 meters) tall.
- Russian N1 rocket: This was Russia’s mega moon rocket of the 20th century space race. And while it was never operational (all four launch attempts failed), Musk has said it’s the closest relative of Starship’s design. The N1 was expected to give off more than 10 million pounds of thrust at liftoff — still well below Starship’s specs.
- The Space Shuttle: NASA’s workhorse launch system in the post-Apollo era, the shuttle had two solid rocket boosters that gave off about 5.3 million pounds of force at liftoff. It was about 180 feet (55 meters) tall.
- Falcon Heavy: SpaceX’s own 230-foot-tall (70-meter-tall) rocket that previously held the title for most powerful operational rocket in the world. It has about 5 million pounds of thrust.
- Space Launch System: NASA’s new moon rocket, which powered the historic Artemis II lunar flyby mission in April, is currently the most powerful rocket in operation. It produces about 8.8 million pounds of thrust — less than half the Starship V3’s output at liftoff. SLS’s Block 1 variant is about 322 feet (98.15 meters) tall.
Committing to orbit was a make-or-break milestone
One of the most consequential milestones of this mission happened when SpaceX decided whether to give Starship the green light to burn its engines for a second time — propelling it fast enough to enter orbit around Earth.
SpaceX did just that about 25 minutes after liftoff on Friday.
Getting through that step — and watching over Starship now as it flies through orbit — means grappling with numerous, often incalculable risks.
Any time SpaceX sends a Starship spacecraft to orbit, mission teams must take extreme care to ensure the vehicle can also make a controlled return to Earth. Otherwise, the ship could make an unpredictable plunge back home that could threaten people or property.
Reaching orbit is still a novel milestone for Starship. It attempted to do so for the first time on the last test flight in September — and was able to under less-than-ideal conditions.
Before that, SpaceX had only flown Starship on “passively safe” suborbital test flights. That meant that “even if control over the spacecraft was completely lost, it was already on a path to reenter the atmosphere and splash down in a pre-determined location,” the company said.
Once going orbital, however, that “pre-determined location” aspect is lost.
If SpaceX were to lose contact and control of Starship once it’s traveling more than 20 times the speed of sound through orbit, the vehicle would be subject to the whims of atmospheric drag.
That means that predicting when and how the vehicle returns to Earth is far more difficult and dangerous — potentially putting Starship on a collision course with people or property.
That’s why SpaceX has set up several check-ins with options to intentionally bring Starship home early if any signs of issues arise — but the company hasn’t needed to do that yet.
Starship deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites. Is it just the cherry on top?
Usually, when a rocket is flying with a valuable payload to space, companies like SpaceX make clear that recovering rocket parts is only icing on the cake.
Throughout the vast majority of rocketry history, nothing has been reusable.
SpaceX has long sought to change that. It first began spearheading reusability with its Falcon rockets.
But the company has also said that Falcon’s reusability isn’t necessary — just nice to have because it saves a lot of money. If SpaceX failed to recover a Falcon booster, but the rocket safely delivered a payload to orbit, the mission was still deemed fully successful.
With Starship, however, that ethos almost feels inverted.
This vehicle was designed to be fully reusable — from top to bottom — and the economics of Starship depend on SpaceX figuring out how to make that a reality.
So during these test flights, gathering data that can help SpaceX learn to consistently recapture and refly both the Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft has been the name of the game. Making headway toward full reusability is the primary goal.
“Reaching this milestone with Starship will allow SpaceX to unlock the true capability of Starship,” the company said in a statement.
Delivering a batch of SpaceX’s own Starlink satellites to orbit? Today, that’s practically just the cherry on top.
But it’s a fairly big cherry: During the last Starship test flight in September, the vehicle “deployed 26 terabits per second of Starlink bandwidth,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during an earnings call. “So a single Starship launch, which wasn’t even fully loaded — it was about maybe half loaded — it did the equivalent of 10 Falcon 9 launches.”
NASA chief congratulates SpaceX on "spectacular" takeoff
This mission is far from over. But NASA chief Jared Isaacman took to social media to lend a congratulations to SpaceX for the flight so far.
It’s still not clear why exactly SpaceX opted not to attempt to land the booster back at the launch tower. And NASA will certainly be keeping a close eye on how the Starship spacecraft performs as it continues on this 22-hour test flight because the agency needs this spaceship to be ready for a crucial moon landing test next year, called Artemis III.
But Isaacman did specifically call out one highlight of the mission so far: Successfully deploying Starlink internet satellites.
NASA also intends to test internet connectivity during the Artemis III mission next year.
Starship's moon plans still hinge on this key test
SpaceX is attempting to check off some major testing milestones during this flight.
But there are still uncertainties and engineering challenges ahead — specifically when it comes to questions about how Starship will power itself to the moon.
SpaceX has long acknowledged that Starship will need to be topped off with fuel as it sits in Earth orbit. Otherwise, the ship wouldn’t have enough gas to get to the moon.
That will require SpaceX to transfer super-chilled cryogenic propellants between vehicles in space — something that’s never been done before.
Under a recently released NASA timeline, SpaceX is expected to make its first demonstration of propellant transfers in early 2027.
Notably, to get to the moon, it won’t require just one transfer. Experts previously estimated the number of refueling tankers that SpaceX would need to launch for a single moon mission was somewhere between 10 and 40.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk weighed in on the issue last month, asserting the actual number was more around six to eight launches.
NASA officials backed up that estimate during a recent news conference. But they noted a final figure likely cannot be known until after propellant transfer testing is done.
NASA chief Jared Isaacman also said that the space agency is working “shoulder to shoulder” with SpaceX and has lent subject matter expertise from its Marshall Space Flight Center to help with the cryogenic propellant transfer.
Two days of sonic booms could be headed for South Texas
Sonic booms are a natural part of rocket launches — but they’re especially noticeable and prevalent when a vehicle is coming home from space.
The Super Heavy booster already returned in a fiery splashdown on Friday, resulting in a gunshot-like bang that ripped out over South Texas. Another boom might echo across the region as SpaceX still aims to bring back the Starship spacecraft on Saturday.
“A sonic boom is a brief, thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears when an aircraft or other vehicle in the area flies faster than the speed of sound. The sonic boom does not present a health risk and what people experience will depend on weather and other conditions,” SpaceX said on its website.
While SpaceX has sought to encourage locals to think of sonic booms as inspiring sounds, ringing in a new era of space exploration, researchers have found the noise levels could be detrimental.
Researchers reported in a study published last year that sonic booms at the level Super Heavy gives off may include potential hearing damage for people nearby and minor structural problems for buildings in the area.
A group of residents have also banded together to file a lawsuit against SpaceX, claiming that sonic booms, noise and vibrations associated with Starship launches have caused structural damage to their homes. In August, the court denied SpaceX’s motion to dismiss the case.
Starship faces its first orbital "checkpoint"
Starship reached an “early return” checkpoint.
SpaceX predetermined three of these milestones, during which mission controllers will compile all the vehicle data and decide whether the vehicle is in good enough shape to continue the flight.
If not, flight controllers can opt to bring the vehicle home early to a splashdown in the ocean.
This first checkpoint occurred as the mission clock hit 1 hour, 27 minutes and 46 seconds. There have been no reported issues so far, but if errors were to arise — at a checkpoint — mission controllers could choose to deorbit the vehicle for a splashdown.
SpaceX polled “Go” to proceed past this first return check. The company said on its webcast that it’s on track to be the longest Starship mission ever flown.
SpaceX may extend its Starlink internet to the moon
Starlink already has about 13 million internet customers on Earth.
But now the company appears to be considering an extension of its services — to the moon.
On a future Starship flight, SpaceX plans to “deliver some of their Starlink satellites beyond the orbits that they normally do for Starlink or Starship operations,” said Carlos García-Galán, NASA’s moon base program manager, during a November 7 news conference. “And they’re going to test long-range communication capabilities.”
Those test satellites won’t be permanent, García-Galán noted. But, if they’re successful, it could pave the way for SpaceX to eventually provide some communications services — perhaps to NASA’s planned moon base on the lunar surface and/or to spacecraft operating in the far reaches of Earth orbit.
NASA also said it’s testing communications systems with Houston-based Intuitive Machines and the Jeff Bezos-backed company Blue Origin.
Three of SpaceX's Starlink satellites have cameras on board. Here's why
Some of the 26 Starlink V3 satellites that Starship is deploying today are doing double duty: Before they go on to beam internet service to some of SpaceX’s 12 million internet customers, a few of these devices will play a role in researching how today’s test flight is going.
“Three of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heatshield and transmit imagery down to operators,” SpaceX said on its website.
The heat shield is a vital component. It’s designed to protect the upper Starship spacecraft as it navigates the violent physics of reentering Earth’s thick inner atmosphere while traveling at speeds that can top 17,000 miles per hour.
SpaceX has used departing Starlink satellites equipped with cameras to help keep an eye on Starship’s heat shield before. In the past, that data has been valuable because SpaceX has typically had to discard of Starship in the ocean after flight — so gathering as much data as possible while it’s in the air became a huge draw.
But today, the images those Starlink cameras take will serve a new important role: helping SpaceX determine whether the vehicle is in good enough shape to make a landing attempt back at the South Texas launch site — an event that could happen tomorrow.
That trip will require Starship to travel over populated areas of Texas and Mexico, so being in working order is vital.
Starship begins deploying Starlink V3 satellites
The Starship spacecraft has started to send out its batch of 26 Starlink V3 satellites, part of a new generation of capacity-boosting Starlinks that SpaceX began deploying with the last Starship mission in September as the company continues to build out its high-speed global internet business.
The Starlinks are designed to lie flat, stacked atop each other as they ride inside Starship’s cargo bay. They leave the vehicle by exiting through a narrow slat, sort of like a high-tech Pez dispenser.
Starship is "go" for orbit insertion
SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft — the “ship” — just got permission from mission controllers to fire its engines and put itself on an orbital trajectory.
That’s a huge milestone: It means the vehicle is in good shape with no major issues. And today’s decision arrived with less uncertainty than the last test flight, when SpaceX was grappling with an engine outage on the ship.
SpaceX’s Dan Huot told reporters earlier today that, during its orbital journey, the Starship spacecraft will hit a maximum speed of 17,600 miles per hour. That’s nearly 23 times the speed of sound.
SpaceX confirmed the engine fire went well, putting Starship in a “nominal” orbit, meaning things are going as planned.
Starship spacecraft is still sailing
Though the Super Heavy booster didn’t quite meet the fate SpaceX had hoped — opting to do a splashdown in the Gulf rather than go in for a landing at the company’s launch tower — the Starship spacecraft is still going strong.
“Everything is looking good,” said SpaceX’s Jesse Anderson.
But before we can even think about getting excited about seeing the Starship craft come back for landing tomorrow — there’s a key hurdle ahead.
SpaceX soon has to decide if Starship is in good enough shape for orbit insertion.
SpaceX’s Dan Huot said there is no indication right now that won’t happen. During the last flight in September, it was pretty touch and go and the spacecraft had an abrupt engine outage — but it did wind up going to orbit.
SpaceX aborts Super Heavy booster catch
SpaceX opted not to return Super Heavy to the launch tower, leaving it to splash down off the coast of Texas.
Starship V3 has faced a series of engine issues during prior test flights, and today’s test flight is showing those problems may not yet be in the rearview mirror.
Super Heavy booster heads back for landing
The Super Heavy rocket booster is now headed back to the launch tower in Starbase, Texas, where it will attempt to repeat prior successes at steering itself to a pinpoint landing.
Super Heavy has 32 engines working, according to SpaceX’s Dan Huot.
Starship separates from Super Heavy via “hot staging”
The Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket booster just made it through a crucial moment in the mission: stage separation.
That’s when Super Heavy shuts down most of its engines in a moment called “main engine cutoff,” or MECO, as the rocket booster has now burned through most of its fuel.
Starship then ignited its own engines and thrust itself away from the Super Heavy booster in a maneuver SpaceX calls “hot staging.”
It’s quite different from how SpaceX’s Falcon rockets separate their upper and lower stages during flight. They use a gentler approach that involves pneumatic pushers that pry the two pieces apart.
Starship’s hot staging essentially uses the thrust of the upper spacecraft’s own engines to forcefully break free. It’s basically rocket separation by blunt force trauma.
Starship survives "Max-Q"
The Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster just soared through the first crucial milestone: Max Q.
That’s an aerospace term that refers to the point during flight at which a vehicle experiences peak stress — when it is traveling very fast while the atmosphere is still quite thick, putting the highest strain on the spacecraft.
LIFTOFF!
The Super Heavy rocket booster just fired up its 33 rocket engines, giving the vehicle the first burst of power off the launchpad.
The booster will fire for two minutes and 20 seconds, burning through most of its fuel, before it shuts its engines off and separates from the upper Starship spacecraft, which is often referred to as the “ship.”
Justin Styer, SpaceX’s senior director of Starship launch, used this analogy to describe liftoff in a recent promotional video.
SpaceX is adding a data center to its South Texas footprint
SpaceX has made an indelible mark on South Texas, where its Starship manufacturing and launch facilities have rapidly reshaped a stretch of coastline on the state’s southernmost tip.
Now, the company wants to add a $24 billion “gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility.”
A public notice states that SpaceX is looking to build the facilities within Starbase, Texas and a 444-acre tract between Boca Chica Boulevard and the Port of Brownsville.
Local news reports said that SpaceX was able to secure the land by leveraging a pledge to give the city of Brownsville $220 million for water projects — forcing local officials to vote on the matter.
“I did not feel comfortable with the pace here. I made that statement to SpaceX privately and publicly,” Brownsville Mayor John Cowen told KRGV.
SpaceX did not heed his concerns, he told the outlet.
On Thursday, SpaceX published a lengthy post to its website defending planned data center projects in South Texas and Arizona.
Data centers have faced fierce pushback for their environmental impact and strain on resources, including water and power. Opposition to their construction partly fueled the massive turnover in this year’s midterm elections. Texas govern-elect has pledged to implement new protections against data centers.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — who spent nearly half a billion dollars supporting losing candidates — acknowledged those sentiments, saying in one of his first post-election social media dispatches: “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.”
SpaceX says it intends to launch AI-computing satellites to orbit, perhaps circumventing the NIMBY issues with earthbound infrastructure. It’s not clear, however, if such a plan will be economically feasible.
Starship's Raptor engines use super-cold propellant to get super hot
SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle has two propellants: methane, which is the fuel, and oxygen, which is the oxidizer that allows the fuel to burn — even in the vacuum of space where there’s no air to feed the fire.
And both the methane and oxygen are kept at terrifyingly cold — also called cryogenic — temperatures before they’re pumped aboard the rocket.
Specifically, it’s −259 degrees Fahrenheit (−161.5 degrees Celsius) for methane and −297 degrees Fahrenheit (−183 degrees Celsius) for oxygen.
But when those super-cold propellants meet in a Starship Raptor engine’s combustion chamber, they rapidly produce some of the hottest temperatures on the planet.
When engineers test fire Raptor engines at the company’s McGregor, Texas, facilities “you can actually see frost on the thrust chamber” even as the engine fires, said Jake Berkowitz, SpaceX’s lead propulsion engineer.
It’s counterintuitive, he said, because “it’s half the surface temperature of the sun on the inside.”
SpaceX is targeting liftoff for just a few minutes after launch window opens
SpaceX’s Dan Huot said that the target liftoff time today for Starship is 5:47 p.m. ET — just a couple minutes after the launch window opens at 5:45 p.m. ET.
Huot added that SpaceX will only attempt the bold goals of recapturing the Super Heavy rocket booster or Starship spacecraft if everything is looking pristine.
The company plans to take a conservative approach today, he told reporters during a factory tour in Starbase earlier today.
