\n<\/p>\n
SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay)<\/span><\/p>\n Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n SpaceX is preparing for the next major test of its Starship launch system, with liftoff targeted for Tuesday evening from the company\u2019s Starbase facility in South Texas. The mission, known as Starship Flight 12, is scheduled to launch during a window opening at 6:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 19. <\/p>\n The flight will mark the first launch of heavily upgraded versions of both the Starship upper stage and the Super Heavy booster, as pressure builds on SpaceX to prove out its hardware for use in NASA\u2019s Artemis program. <\/p>\n The launch window opens at 6:30 p.m. EDT (local time 5:30 p.m. CDT) on Tuesday, May 19, from SpaceX\u2019s newly upgraded launch pad at Starbase. However, as with all developmental missions, launch timing remains subject to technical checks and weather conditions, meaning delays are possible. <\/p>\n The launch will be streamed live on SpaceX.com<\/a>, YouTube<\/a> and X (Twitter)<\/a> from about 30 minutes before the launch. <\/p>\n<\/section>\n Tuesday\u2019s mission will debut redesigned versions of both components of the launch vehicle \u2014 the Starship upper stage and the Super Heavy booster. The latter will fly with the latest evolution of the Raptor engine, with all 33 engines expected to ignite during ascent.<\/p>\n Unlike some recent test flights for Starship, Tuesday\u2019s flight will not include an attempt to return the Super Heavy booster to the launch tower using the massive mechanical arms commonly referred to as \u201cchopsticks.\u201d Instead, SpaceX plans for the booster to perform a controlled offshore landing in the Gulf of America. <\/p>\n<\/section>\n Once in space, the Starship upper stage is expected to deploy 22 Starlink simulators roughly matching the size and shape of next-generation SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellites.<\/p>\n Two of those simulators will conduct imaging operations focused on Starship\u2019s heat shield, transmitting data and photographs back to mission control. Several heat shield tiles on the spacecraft have intentionally been painted white to simulate damage and create visual targets for inspection systems. Engineers have also deliberately removed one thermal protection tile entirely to study how neighboring tiles react to aerodynamic forces during reentry.<\/p>\n This is an illustration provided by SpaceX that shows the SpaceX Starship human lander design that may carry the first NASA astronauts to the surface of the moon under the Artemis program.(SpaceX\/NASA via AP)<\/span><\/p>\n Associated Press<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/section>\n Starship remains central to SpaceX\u2019s long-term plans for deep-space exploration. The fully reusable system is designed to carry more than 100 tons of cargo and eventually transport crews to the moon and Mars. However, the pressure is now on SpaceX to test Starship \u2014 particularly its Starship Human Landing System (HLS), a modified version it\u2019s building for NASA\u2019s Artemis program. On March 3, NASA revealed<\/a> a revision in the Artemis program. Artemis 3<\/a> (scheduled for launch in mid-2027) has now been re-classified as a test mission during which its Orion spacecraft will rendezvous and dock in low Earth orbit with commercial lunar landers \u2014 SpaceX\u2019s Starship HLS and Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The original plan had been for Starship to be refueled in Earth orbit \u2014 something that would take 15 flights of other Starships<\/a> \u2014 before going into lunar orbit, where it would rendezvous with NASA\u2019s crew in Orion.<\/p>\n It\u2019s now a race between SpaceX and Blue Origin, with NASA intending to test whichever lander is ready for its Artemis 3 crew. NASA announced<\/a> on May 4 that testing of Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lunar lander has been completed inside a Thermal Vacuum Chamber A at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston.<\/p>\n Environmental testing of Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lunar lander has been completed inside Thermal Vacuum Chamber A at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston.<\/span><\/p>\n NAS\/Blue Origin<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nWhen Will Space Starship Launch?<\/h2>\n
First Test For Next-Generation Starship Hardware<\/h2>\n
Starlink Deployment And Heat Shield Experiments<\/h2>\n
Starship And NASA\u2019s Artemis Moon Landings<\/h2>\n
NASA\u2019s Lunar Lander: Starship Vs Blue Moon<\/h2>\n