The largest rocket system ever built in space history is scheduled to complete a third test flight on Thursday. A 110-minute launch window will open at 1 p.m. CET, said tech billionaire Elon Musk’s private space company SpaceX. The unmanned “Starship” is scheduled to launch at SpaceX’s spaceport in the US state of Texas. A roughly one-hour test flight and sea landings of both rocket stages are planned.
During a first test last April, the entire rocket system exploded after just a few minutes. During a second test in November, the two rocket stages separated and the upper one continued to fly for a while, but shortly afterwards both exploded separately.
The “Starship” – consisting of the approximately 70 meter long “Super Heavy” booster and the approximately 50 meter long upper stage, also called “Starship” – is intended to enable manned missions to the Moon and Mars. The system is designed so that the spacecraft and rocket can be reused after returning to Earth. The system, which is around 120 meters long in total, will be able to transport well over 100 tons of cargo in the future. NASA wants to take astronauts to the moon with the “Starship”. SpaceX hopes to one day get to Mars.
