SpaceX's Starship Flight 7 “Ship” is stacked atop its Super Heavy booster for a prepared launch on Jan. 13, 2025 at the business's Starbase center in South Texas. (Image credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX's next Starship to fly is all dressed up for launch.
On Friday (Jan. 10), SpaceX effectively stacked its Starship spacecraft atop a huge Super Heavy booster to get ready for the next launch of the world's biggest rocket next week. Liftoff is set for 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) on Monday (Jan. 13) from SpaceX's Starbase test website near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas.
“Flight 7 Starship and Super Heavy stacked on the launch pad at Starbase,” SpaceX composed in a post on the social networks website X on Friday.
SpaceX's Starship Flight 7 objective will check a brand-new variation of Starship and is the very first of possibly 25 Starship launches this year. With the Starship upper-stage car stacked atop its Super Heavy booster, the whole rocket stands almost 400 feet (122 meters) high, making it the highest and most effective launch car in the world.
As its name recommends, Flight 7 will mark SpaceX's seventh test flight of Starship, which is developed to be a completely multiple-use launch system for objectives to Earth orbit, the moon Mars and beyond. NASA has actually tapped Starship to land its Artemis 3 astronauts on the moon in 2027, while SpaceX creator Elon Musk wants to release an uncrewed variation of Starship to Mars as early as 2026.
A daytime view of SpaceX's stacked Starship Flight 7 lorry atop its Super Heavy booster on Jan. 10, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)
Throughout the Jan. 13 flight, SpaceX will evaluate a series of improvements to the Starship spacecraft, consisting of upgrades to its flight computer system, avionics and heat guard. The spacecraft is likewise bring a set of simulated Starlink web satellites, which SpaceX intends to release in area throughout the 66-minute flight.
The Starship lorry on Flight 7 likewise has smaller sized forward flaps that have actually been moved far from its heat guard to lower direct exposure to excess heat throughout reentry, SpaceX composed in an objective description. SpaceX is likewise reflying an engine on the rocket's 33-engine Super Heavy very first phase for the very first time.
Breaking area news, the most recent updates on rocket launches, skywatching occasions and more!
“The upcoming flight test will release a new-generation ship with considerable upgrades, effort Starship's very first payload release test, fly numerous reentry experiments tailored towards ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Super Heavy booster,” SpaceX composed in the objective introduction.
A nighttime view of SpaceX's Flight 7 Starship spacecraft atop its Super Heavy booster. (Image credit: SpaceX)
If all works out, the Super Heavy phase of the Flight 7 Starship will go back to Earth to be captured by huge metal “chopstick” arms at its launch pad at Starbase. SpaceX effectively showed such a rocket catch in October throughout its Flight 5 test flight however waved off a tried catch a month later on throughout the Flight 6 launch.
