SpaceX will attempt the first test flight of its integrated Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy booster on Monday morning. Known collectively as “Starship,” it’s the tallest rocket ever built, standing at 394 feet tall (120 meters) — about 90 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. It’s also the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the Super Heavy booster fitted with 33 of SpaceX’s powerful Raptor engines — the most engines ever featured in a first stage rocket booster.
SpaceX Starship launch countdown: all of the news on its first test flight
April 19, 2023
SpaceX Starship launch countdown: all of the news on its first test flight
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Apr 18
SpaceX’s next Starship launch attempt could happen on Thursday.According to the Starship flight test mission page, the launch window it’s targeting is from 8:28AM CT (9:28AM ET) to 9:30 AM CT (10:30AM ET).
Yes, that’s 4/20, and no, it’s not a 69-minute window; it’s 62.
You can keep an eye on our stream of updates for any more details as they arrive.
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Apr 18
Who needs a Starship launch when you can pre-order a Starship torch?You’ll just need to put down $175 and cross your fingers the torch will actually arrive in Q3 2023. Then it can sit right next to your Boring Company flamethrower.
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Apr 17
No word yet on a time for another attempt.But according to Elon Musk, another try for the Starship launch will happen in “a few days.”
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Apr 17
Starship launch scrubbed.Elon Musk tweeted that the issue stopping SpaceX’s first Starship orbital test flight is a frozen pressurant valve.
As the SpaceX livestream ended, we were told that it would take about 48 hours to recycle before making another attempt, so we’ll stand down for a couple of days, at least.
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Apr 17
Starship launch canceled, now a “wet dress rehearsal.”SpaceX’s first attempt at launching Starship to orbital velocity won’t happen today after a pressurization issue with the first stage. According to SpaceX’s livestream, today’s proceedings are now a “wet dress rehearsal” with the countdown ending at T-10 seconds.
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Apr 17
Reliving some Starship hits and near-misses.On the SpaceX livestream for today’s test flight, as the countdown to 9:20AM ET continues, they referenced earlier sub-orbital test flights.
That included the SN8 (below) high-altitude test that ended explosively and drew some attention from the FAA for violating SpaceX’s license before everything was eventually resolved.
SN8 perishes in an explosive “hard landing” -
Apr 17
An alternate angle on Starship.Besides the official SpaceX livestream, you can also stay tuned to NASASpaceflight on YouTube. They’re some of those SpaceX fans who stop by to keep an eye on each launch and have their own feed live from near the Texas pad.
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Apr 17
The Starship test flight livestream has begun.The YouTube stream is live for “the world’s most powerful launch vehicle.”
The countdown now says we’re fewer than 40 minutes out from the launch, which is still scheduled to take place at 9:20AM ET. You can get all the watch details and the video feed right here, or stay tuned to our post for updates and the live video feed.
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Apr 17
Some people have been waiting for Starship to launch for a very long time.A little under an hour to go before the first Starship launch, which means you have enough time to watch our video (or read our story) about the small community of people who’ve uprooted their lives to live near Starbase in Texas. A huge day for them!
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Apr 17
Starship launch now targeting 9:20AM ET.Scheduled liftoff is now: New York: 9:20AM / San Francisco: 6:20AM / London: 2:20PM / Berlin: 3:20PM / Moscow: 4:20PM / New Delhi: 6:50PM / Beijing: 9:20PM / Tokyo: 10:20PM / Melbourne: 11:20PM
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Apr 17
How to watch SpaceX Starship’s first test flight — the most powerful rocket ever
Starship is integral to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s vision of eventually sending a crew of people to Mars. It supersedes the company’s Falcon 9 rocket — currently the world’s most frequently launched rocket — capable of carrying more cargo and a larger crew while featuring a fully reusable design to help reduce the costs associated with spaceflight. Providing everything goes as planned, SpaceX will use Starship to transport NASA’s Artemis 3 astronauts to the moon in 2025.
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Apr 17
Musk sets expectations low for Starship launch.The SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter CEO speaking live on Twitter Spaces Sunday night:
“If we get far enough away from the launchpad before something goes wrong then I think I would consider that to be a success. Just don’t blow up the launchpad… The chances of us triggering an abort and having to postpone the launch are high.”
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Apr 17
SpaceX’s first Starship test flight is targeting 9AM ET for liftoff.Your Monday morning plans could include a groundbreaking rocket launch — SpaceX and Elon Musk are ready to attempt a first integrated Starship launch that’s scheduled to take place around 9AM ET.
The countdown’s first check-in should come two hours prior to liftoff, so keep an eye on our stream for any updates to the plans.
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Apr 14
SpaceX’s Starship rocket receives clearance for launch
Image: SpaceXSpaceX’s Starship rocket has been cleared for launch by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), meaning it could take its first orbital flight test as soon as next week, as reported earlier by CNN.
With the help of SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket, Starship is the spacecraft that’s designed to ferry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars. SpaceX says it's targeting a Starship launch from the company’s Texas Starbase “as soon as” April 17th.
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Apr 10
SpaceX updates its Mars mission demo reel.It’s been a few years since Elon Musk and SpaceX showed off early designs of Starship and proclaimed it would enable humans to travel to Mars.
You should go back and watch that 2016 reveal, then check out this five-minute CG video SpaceX just posted, again showing the Starship launching, refueling, and reaching an outpost on Mars. The video’s still all renderings and possibilities, but with an orbital flight test for Starship possibly around the corner, it feels a little different.
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Apr 10
Elon Musk says SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft is ready to launch soon
SpaceX’s Starship stacked on top of the Super Heavy rocket booster. Image: SpaceXLast week, SpaceX announced it’s poised to launch the fully stacked Starship spacecraft for a first orbital flight test following a launch rehearsal this week and pending regulatory approval. Now SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is confirming it’s ready, with launch “trending towards near the end of third week of April,” Musk wrote in a tweet on Monday.
Starship is SpaceX’s long-awaited flagship spacecraft that’s designed to take astronauts and payloads to deep space — including the Moon and, of course, Mars. Most importantly, the parts are designed to be reusable, and it is paired with a massive booster known as the Super Heavy to get it off the Earth’s surface.
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Feb 9
31 out of 33 isn’t too bad.Elon Musk says that only 31 of the 33 engines on SpaceX’s Starship booster actually fired, but the static fire test was still a thing to behold. Despite that, the test went really well otherwise according to the people over at the NASA Spaceflight channel, paving the way towards the ship actually launching.
They should start playing replays soon, so tune in if you want to see some flames.
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Nov 30, 2022
SpaceX accused of age discrimination by former employee
General view of SpaceX headquarters on August 03, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC ImagesA former SpaceX engineer published an essay today describing alleged age discrimination he says he experienced while he was at the company. “I saw my work roles gradually transferred to younger engineers who fit the company’s ‘frat bro’ mold,” John Johnson writes in the essay published on the platform Lioness.
“In the culture, in the environment of SpaceX, old people are rare. And when I say old people, I mean anyone over 40,” Johnson, who is 62, tells The Verge. In a job interview for his role at SpaceX, Johnson says he was asked whether he’d “be okay” working with young colleagues.
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Nov 17, 2022
Fired SpaceX employees file charges with National Labor Relations Board
SpaceX founder Elon Musk during an event on August 25th, 2022, in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. Photo by Michael Gonzalez / Getty ImagesA group of former SpaceX employees has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, The New York Times reports. The employees say they were fired illegally after putting together a letter that called on the company to strengthen its “zero-tolerance policies” following sexual harassment allegations against Elon Musk.
Nine employees were ultimately fired after the letter came out in June, the Times reports, eight of whom filed the charges with federal regulators. The letter, first reported on by The Verge, asked SpaceX executives for three things: to curb “Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior,” to define and enforce the company’s sexual harassment policies, and ensure that all leadership is held accountable for violating such policies.
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Sep 13, 2022
The SpaceX fans who uprooted their lives and moved to Starbase
The first time Anthony Gomez saw one of SpaceX’s Starship prototypes take flight, he watched it on a projector. He was far away from the humid Texas coast, where the actual launch was taking place. Instead, he was sitting in his house in Florida with his girlfriend.
On the wall of his home, Anthony admired the Starship rocket as it careened through the sky. All three of the Raptor engines cut off when the spaceship reached an altitude of roughly 41,000 feet, and the massive steel vessel began to plummet back to Earth, pitched over on its side, looking like a grain silo in free fall. Just before reaching the landing pad, its engines reignited, and the vehicle rapidly turned upright again as it prepared to touch down. But the spacecraft came down too fast, hitting the ground hard and bursting apart in a massive explosion. Afterward, only a charred patch of Earth remained where Starship once stood — a disappointment.
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Jun 24, 2022
Elon Musk’s Twitter chaos reaches SpaceX
Image: SpaceXIt’s always fun to check in with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s least dysfunctional company — oh wait, what’s this? The workers at SpaceX are upset?
Last week, as first reported by The Verge, a group of SpaceX workers wrote a letter to Musk about his tweets. “Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,” the letter states. “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX — every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company. It is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values.”
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Jun 17, 2022
SpaceX fires employees who wrote open letter complaining about Elon Musk
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/VogueSpaceX has fired a number of employees who wrote and shared a letter criticizing the behavior of CEO Elon Musk, with the company’s president criticizing the letter as “overreaching activism.”
The open letter, first reported by The Verge, described Musk’s behavior as “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks.” It cites SpaceX’s “No Asshole” policy and asks the company to “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior.”
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Jun 13, 2022
FAA requiring SpaceX to make changes to Texas launch site ahead of future launches
SpaceX’s Starship prototypes at the company’s Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty ImagesThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that SpaceX’s plans for the company’s massive Starbase launch site in South Texas will have some environmental impact on the surrounding land and area — but not enough to require a full environmental impact statement. Now, SpaceX will need to make more than 75 changes to its proposal for the Starbase facility if the company wants to avoid additional review and eventually receive a license from the FAA to launch its new Starship rocket to orbit from the site.
SpaceX’s Starbase facility is located in a small town called Boca Chica, Texas, right on the southern tip of Texas along the Rio Grande river and the US-Mexico border. For the last few years, SpaceX has used the site to construct full-scale prototypes of Starship, the company’s next-generation monster rocket designed to take people and cargo to deep-space destinations like the Moon and Mars. SpaceX has already conducted various high-altitude test flights with Starship prototypes from Starbase, but now, the company hopes to actually launch Starship to space for the first time and send the vehicle to orbit.
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Feb 11, 2022
Elon Musk is hopeful Texas site will clear approval for Starship’s first orbital launch
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he’s hopeful that his company’s launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, will receive regulatory approval to launch by March and that the first orbital launch of SpaceX’s new Starship rocket will take place sometime this year.
Musk made these comments during his first presentation on Starship since 2019, which he gave last night at the company’s test facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Standing in front of a full stacked prototype of the rocket that towered high over the stage, Musk provided an overview of some of the latest specs of the vehicle, why he wants to pursue deep space travel, and when he expects to make all these plans happen.
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Dec 14, 2021
Five former SpaceX employees speak out about harassment at the company
Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeA group of former SpaceX employees are coming forward about their experience working at the commercial rocket company, claiming that there is a culture of sexual harassment in the workplace and that managers and the human resources department handled complaints poorly.
The individuals are speaking out in light of an essay published by one former employee, Ashley Kosak, who left SpaceX in November. In her account, Kosak details multiple instances of being groped and feeling uncomfortable after fending off sexual advances by her male co-workers. Four additional people who spoke with The Verge described their own troubling experiences at SpaceX or witnessing other women and nonbinary people being harassed. In three cases reviewed by The Verge, SpaceX HR was made aware of the allegations and had inconsistent responses that the employees felt were inadequate.
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