At 15:15, the test flight of the largest and most powerful rocket system in the world – “Starship” – begins.
Watch live the launch of the 120-meter launch vehicle intended for trips to the moon and to Mars.
The $3 billion rocket is 120 meters tall and is considered the most powerful in the world.
The results of the test launch are unclear, but the company said success will be measured by “how much we learn from the test.”
“Success – maybe, exaltation – guaranteed!” Musk wrote on Twitter.
The “Super Heavy” booster, which has 33 “Raptor” rocket engines running on methane, each generating about 220 tons of thrust, will engage in 2 minutes and 49 seconds, after which the upper stage of the “Starship” system will separate . The booster will re-ignite its engines for a series of maneuvers to attempt a controlled landing about 30 km off the coast of Texas.
So far, the reusable rocket has not flown in its full configuration, i.e. with its first stage called “Super heavy”, which after launch should return to Earth. So far, the ship has made suborbital flights at an altitude of 10 km, and some of these tests ended in explosions.
Exactly Starship was selected by NASA to land astronauts on the Moon as part of the Artemis 3 missionofficially planned for 2025.
