After a few delays, SpaceX’s Starship launched at 9:25AM ET for its third flight test. This time, it completed a hot-stage separation with the booster rocket and successfully reached orbital velocity, according to Elon Musk. This Starship prototype skipped a planned attempt to relight its Raptor engines in space and was scheduled to splash down in the Indian Ocean about an hour after takeoff.
Technology
SpaceX Starship launch: third time’s the charm?
SpaceX’s Starship Super Heavy flight test number three will make its third launch attempt at 9:25AM ET. We’ll have live updates about the launch here.
However, SpaceX commentators confirmed the vehicle was “lost†after reentry and that there would be no splashdown today.
This latest Starship test follows two failed attempts last year, with the rocket spinning out of control before exploding around four minutes after launch in April, followed by a second attempt in November that similarly ended in flames.
SpaceX has ended its live broadcast, but we’ll continue to add any updates about the mission as they come in.
Read on for all of the latest news about SpaceX’s third Starship test flight.
Highlights
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
All of the angles on the launch of SpaceX’s third Starship flight test.
The Starship was reported “lost†before it could splash down after reentry as planned. but for a better look at the takeoff, the folks at NASASpaceflight put together a few different camera angles from this morning’s events.
Mar 14
Jess Weatherbed and Richard Lawler
SpaceX successfully launched its Starship, but the vehicle was ‘lost’ after reentry
SpaceX’s massive Starship took off from the company’s Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas, at 9:25AM ET on Thursday morning.
This test flight was far more successful than its two predecessors, as the vehicle became “the first Starship to complete its full-duration ascent burn†after the six Raptor engines powered it to its expected orbit. It completed the hot-staging separation from its Super Heavy booster and opened a payload door to demonstrate how it could be used for missions like delivering Starlink satellites into orbit.
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
No splashdown today.
Before the SpaceX broadcast ended, SpaceX spokesperson Dan Huot said, “the team has made the call that the ship has been lost, so no splashdown today.â€
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
Watch Starship’s reentry.
There’s no word on the status of Starship as the live video feed from the vehicle has ended for the moment, but you can see part of the reentry process in this clip posted by SpaceX.
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
Starship reentry views.
As Starship reenters Earth’s atmosphere, the external cameras are capturing the heat and plasma field generated.
Image:SpaceX
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
The Starship won’t attempt an in-flight engine relight this time.
We’ve skipped over one planned element of this test flight, as the Starship 28 prototype continues on its way toward a planned splashdown.
Image: SpaceX
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
Propellant transfer demo completed.
SpaceX finished another test for this Starship flight and ended internal views from the flight. As the live broadcast continues, it has gone in and out as the vehicle continues to barrel roll in space on its way to a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Image: SpaceX
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
Now Starship is in a “coast phase.â€
The next milestone for this flight test is a planned in-space relight of the Raptor engines, which is scheduled for 40:46 into the flight, or a about 18 minutes from now.
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
SpaceX says the Super Heavy booster “fell a little short†of its planned relight control.
On the stream, we watched the return of the Super Heavy booster rocket after separation, which seemed to have partial success on some of its planned maneuvers as it came back to Earth. The commentators noted it “feel a little short,†of the plan, but didn’t go into detail.
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
Starship flight test three is under way.
The vehicle took off successfully and is now heading toward the “Hot-staging (Starship Raptor ignition and stage separation).â€
Mar 14
Jess Weatherbed
SpaceX isn't too worried about Starship launch delays.
If the current launch needs to be abandoned, the SpaceX livestream presenters said the company has outlined other opportunities to attempt the latest Starship test flight within the next 24-48 hours, depending on how far they can get with today’s testing.
Things do, however, currently look good for an imminent launch in six minutes.
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
SpaceX’s Starship reentry plans.
As we wait to see if the Starship will launch, SpaceX posted this clip showing what the splashdown could be like.
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
Chilling effects.
The countdown just crossed T-10 minutes and counting.
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
Where is the Starship supposed to go?
If everything works out as planned, the Starship will attempt an in-space relight of its Raptor engines and eventually splash down in the Indian Ocean, as shown in this animation.
Mar 14
Jess Weatherbed
SpaceX readies its third Starship rocket test flight: watch the launch here.
After the first two Starship tests went up in flames, SpaceX says it’s now attempting “a number of ambitious objectives†for today’s targeted 9:25AM ET launch, including:
The successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship. It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
SpaceX’s third Starship flight test is now scheduled for 9:25AM ET
Now that the Federal Aviation Administration has granted SpaceX a license (pdf), the third test flight of its Starship Super Heavy vehicle could take place as soon as Thursday morning. SpaceX’s 110-minute launch window opened at 7AM CT / 8AM ET / 5AM PT on March 14th.
The launch attempt took place after it was rescheduled for 9:25AM ET, and the Starship successfully reached orbit velocity.
Mar 14
Richard Lawler
SpaceX’s projected Starship launch time keeps moving.
If SpaceX attempts another Starship launch this morning, it now says the launch could happen about an hour and a half into the planned 110-minute launch window that started at 8AM ET.
An update from SpaceX said it is “go for propellant load,†and the launch is targeting 9:25AM ET. An official livestream has not started yet, but the folks at Spaceflight Now are broadcasting live with cameras set up near the Boca Chica, TX, launch site.
Update March 14th, 8:26AM ET: Updated launch timing (again) from SpaceX.
Mar 6
Amrita Khalid
Maybe third time’s the charm for SpaceX’s Starship.
The third flight test for the Starship rocket might take place on March 14th at 7:30AM ET, SpaceX has announced on X. (This is assuming the FAA signs off, and that it's not delayed for some other reason.)
Starship’s last two tests failed memorably; during the most recent November launch the booster and Starship exploded after their separation.
Jan 23
Georgina Torbet
Can private companies carry NASA back to the Moon?
Hopes were high for the much-hyped first private US Moon lander mission, launched from Cape Canaveral earlier this month. But following a problem with a propellant valve, the Peregrine lander from Astrobotic didn’t make it to the Moon and instead burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, having failed to deliver its 20 payloads, including a number of NASA experiments.
This follows failed lunar landing attempts from companies based in Israel and Japan in 2019 and 2023, respectively. In fact, no private company has yet landed on the Moon.Â
Nov 18, 2023
Wes Davis and Emma Roth
SpaceX’s second Starship flight test ends in an explosion minutes after launch
Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge
SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket just took off shortly after 8AM ET from the company’s Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
A few minutes after the launch and a planned “hot stage†separation, the Super Heavy booster exploded instead of continuing its planned descent and water landing, but Starship itself continued into space. Minutes later, the SpaceX team said it had not received any signal from Starship and that they may have lost the ship. The New York Times wrote that the upper stage made it 90 miles high, putting it into space prior to its loss.
Oct 21, 2023
Wes Davis
SpaceX keeps picking up the launch pace.
The company reportedly told ArsTechnica it’s shooting for 144 launches next year. That’s 12 launches a month, or about every two-and-a-half days.
The goal, writes Ars, is to put many more Starlink satellites aloft to support its satellite-based cell phone service, which is due to launch next year as a texting-only service, with voice and data coming later. That’s not necessarily great news to everyone.
Next year, SpaceX aims to average one launch every 2.5 days
[Ars Technica]
Apr 20, 2023
Emma Roth
SpaceX’s Starship successfully takes off before bursting into flames
Screenshot: SpaceX
SpaceX’s integrated Starship spacecraft successfully took off from its launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, on Thursday but didn’t manage to fully complete its test flight. The spacecraft spun out of control before bursting into a ball of flames about four minutes into its flight, cutting the test short.
In a statement on Twitter, SpaceX said, “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation.†During today’s 90-minute test flight, Starship was supposed to reach an altitude of about 150 miles during a journey around the globe before splashing down into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. SpaceX scrubbed its first test flight attempt on April 17th due to a “frozen†pressurant valve.
Sep 13, 2022
Loren Grush
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.