Elon Musk’s SpaceX Launches Fourth Starship Rocket Test Today—How to Watch and Why It’s Important

Key Facts:

• SpaceX plans to launch Starship and its Super Heavy booster on Thursday, June 6, following approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
• The FAA determined that SpaceX’s last Starship test, which ended in flames, posed no safety risks to the public, allowing the company to proceed with another test before completing an investigation into the incident.
• The two-hour test launch window opens at 7 a.m. Central Time (8 a.m. ET, 5 a.m. PT), though SpaceX advises following its social media for updates as schedules are “dynamic and likely to change.”
• Elon Musk announced that SpaceX is targeting a 7:20 a.m. launch, “Texas time.”
• A live webcast of the launch will begin approximately 30 minutes before liftoff and will be streamed exclusively on SpaceX’s channel on X (@SpaceX).
• The mission will follow a similar trajectory as the previous flight but will focus on demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy, including opening and closing the payload door in space and executing its first reentry from space.

Why Is SpaceX’s Fourth Starship Test Important?

• Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever developed, standing around 400 feet tall. It is crucial to Elon Musk and SpaceX’s vision of transporting cargo and eventually humans to the moon, Mars, and beyond. The rocket is also expected to play a significant role in NASA’s plans to return American astronauts to the moon.
• Reusability is key to making space travel more affordable and accessible. Historically, space exploration has been dominated by wealthy nations due to the high costs associated with disposable rockets. SpaceX aims to change this with Starship, which is designed to carry up to 100 people on long-duration, interplanetary flights, deliver satellites, and enable the development of a moon base.
• While the three previous Starship tests ended in flames or crashes, SpaceX considers them successful as each provided valuable lessons that have improved the rocket. “The fourth flight of Starship will aim to bring us closer to the rapidly reusable future on the horizon,” SpaceX stated. The company continues to develop Starship rapidly, placing flight hardware in a flight environment to learn as quickly as possible and build a fully reusable transportation system for Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Crucial Quote: “The main goal of the fourth Starship test flight is ‘getting through max reentry heating,’” Musk said on X. He highlighted that no one has ever succeeded in creating a fully reusable heat shield, which is crucial for protecting the rocket during its return to Earth through the atmosphere. Musk noted that developing a reusable orbital return heat shield is SpaceX’s “biggest remaining problem,” and with “extreme effort,” SpaceX could achieve around 100% reusability for Starship.

Tangent: For about a decade, SpaceX has competed with Boeing to develop a space taxi service for astronauts as NASA works to build the industry and expand its options for getting people into space. While SpaceX has been regularly shuttling astronauts for NASA and other organizations for years, Boeing has faced delays and challenges. On Wednesday, Boeing finally launched its first crewed test of its Starliner rocket, carrying two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station