Follow us
Add us as a favorite source on Google
SpaceX plans to launch its Starship megarocket on an unprecedented mission today (November 13), and you can watch the action live.
Spacecraft is scheduled to launch its 15th test flight from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in south Texas today, during a 75-minute window that opens at 5:45 p.m. EST (10:45 p.m. GMT; 4:45 p.m. Texas local time). EspaceX plans to bring both Starship stages back to Starbase to grab them by the launch tower’s “wand” arms – something he’s never done before.
You can watch it all live here on Space.com. And there should be plenty of things to see: Flight of Spaceship 15 will last more than 22 hours, if everything goes as planned.
Starship consists of two components: a massive booster known as Super Heavy and an upper stage spacecraft called Starship, or Ship for short. Both are designed to be fully and quickly reusable – a first in the world of orbital spaceflight.
How quickly Starship can be reused depends heavily on SpaceX’s recovery strategy: Returning both vehicles directly to the launch pad will allow for much faster inspection, refurbishment and reflight, the company said.
SpaceX has already caught Super Heavyachieving the feat on three previous Starship test flights. But he never tried to do this with Ship, which flies further and faster than the booster and is therefore a more difficult vehicle to recover.
So today’s flight is a big deal for SpaceX.
“If successful, this will mark the first full recovery of an orbital launch system and a watershed moment in making Starship a reliable and rapidly reusable rocket,” the company wrote in a statement. Flight 15 Mission Description.
Look on it
The action will take place over two days, if everything goes as planned. Super Heavy will return to Starbase for a landing just 6.5 minutes after launch, but Ship will continue to low earth orbit.
The upper stage will deploy 26 of SpaceX’s next-generation devices Star link V3 satellites, for a period of 42 minutes beginning approximately 35 minutes after liftoff. This will be only the second batch of V3 spacecraft to reach orbit, following the 26 that were launched. Flight 14 on September 28.
The ship will then remain in the air for almost an entire day. The mission plan calls for the upper stage to return to Starbase to collect its wands Saturday afternoon (November 14), approximately 22.5 hours after liftoff.
However, there is no guarantee that things will go as planned. SpaceX will cancel a capture of the ship if the vehicle encounters problems during Flight 15. If something arises, the company will direct the ship to land in the Pacific Ocean, either near Hawaii or off the coast of Chile.
So it will be a busy weekend for SpaceX and for space fans who want to keep an eye on the mission. And we can help you, with our Flight 15 Updates Page.
Gn bussni
