SpaceX has launched its third Starship mission, with the space exploration company owned by Elon Musk forging ahead after the first two attempts exploded after takeoff. SpaceX, which considers those first two missions successful thanks to the data and information it was able to collect, isn’t stopping.
Shortly before 9:30 a.m. ET Thursday, the company posted three words to the Musk-owned X social media site: “Liftoff of Starship!” A 36-second video showed the rocket engines igniting and then the rocket lifting off from a cloud of exhaust smoke and rising into the sky.
The mission is streaming live on X. The Starship is expected to return to Earth later Thursday morning.
Starship is arguably the most ambitious effort for Musk, who owns the satellite-based internet company Starlink along with EV maker Tesla, X and the neurotechnology company Neuralink. The Starship missions are critical to SpaceX’s — and Musk’s — goal of getting to and eventually settling the moon and Mars.
With a new flight trajectory and hopes for new data insights, the space company’s third mission may prove to be its most important yet.
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When did the Starship mission launch?
Starship’s third mission launched on March 14. It had been pending favorable weather and a license from the Federal Aviation Administration.
How to watch Starship mission 3
SpaceX set up livestreams for watching the third mission. One is the SpaceX account on X, and another is the SpaceX third mission landing page. You could also watch via CNET’s YouTube channel.
What to expect from the Starship mission
SpaceX’s third Starship mission is designed to test whether the spacecraft can complete certain tasks. After liftoff, the company will attempt to open Starship’s payload door and transfer its propellant from one part of the starship to the other. For the first time, SpaceX will also attempt to relight its Raptor engine while in space, a test that could be critical for future missions as it eventually tries to propel Starship through space.
Starship is taking a different flight path this time around, and will attempt to land safely in the Indian Ocean instead of the Pacific Ocean. In a statement, SpaceX said that the new flight path is designed to maximize “public safety,” but the company didn’t discuss how.
The new flight path will also pave the way for SpaceX to try “in-space engine burns,” a reference to the company attempting to reignite the Raptor engine in space.
This mission is slated to last for an hour and 15 minutes. Previous missions, if completed, would have lasted 90 minutes.
What happened in the previous missions?
April mission: Forced detonation
The first Starship mission launched in April 2023. Early on in the mission, the two stages of the Starship — the reusable upper stage, called Starship, and its Super Heavy first-stage booster — were supposed to separate. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and for safety reasons, the SpaceX team was forced to detonate the Starship just 4 minutes into the mission.
November mission: Explosion due to liquid oxygen
In November 2023, Starship launched its second mission. That time around, Starship was able to separate its two stages and it reached nominal first-stage engine burn. However, Starship exploded 8 minutes after launch, when it tried to vent its liquid oxygen. Oddly, the explosion may not have needed to happen. Earlier this year, Musk said on a real mission carrying payload — meaning the materials a spaceship carries to perform its scientific mission — liquid oxygen wouldn’t be onboard.
Third time’s the charm?
While both missions failed in one sense, SpaceX has called them, especially the second mission, successful. And the company cautioned that even if the upcoming third mission goes awry, it’s not all bad.
“Starship’s second flight test achieved a number of major milestones and provided invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship,” the company wrote on its site. “Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test. They aren’t occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning.”
