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Tonight’s the Night! Starship Is Ready to Fly Again — With Real Satellites on Board
Quick Summary
SpaceX’s colossal Starship rocket is scheduled to launch this evening from Starbase, Texas. This is the rocket’s 13th test flight. The biggest news? For the first time ever, it will carry real, working satellites into space.
What Happened?
For weeks, SpaceX engineers have been counting down to this moment. The first try came on July 16 — but the rocket’s computer automatically stopped the launch. Four of the 33 engines on the giant booster did not start up correctly, and the safety system shut everything down.
The team got back to work right away. Engineers removed and replaced two of the rocket’s Raptor 3 engines. Then they ran a full round of tests to make sure everything was ready.
A second try was planned for July 23. This time, a tropical storm rolled through Texas and forced another wait. So the launch window is now set for this evening, Friday, July 24, starting at 6:45 p.m. Eastern Time.
Starship is the world’s most powerful rocket. It stands about 124 meters tall — roughly the same height as a 40-story building. It has two main parts. The bottom piece, called Super Heavy, has 33 powerful Raptor engines. The top piece, called Ship, is where the cargo goes.
For Flight 13, SpaceX will try to land the Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico after it separates. Meanwhile, the Ship will carry 20 brand-new Starlink V3 satellites into space.
Here is the exciting part: these are not practice satellites. They are real, working ones. Once in space, they will unfold solar panels and antennas. Then they will try to connect to the existing Starlink network using super-fast laser beams. Six of the satellites even have cameras on board to photograph the rocket’s heat shield from the outside.
Why Does It Matter?
Starship is the rocket NASA plans to use to help send astronauts back to the Moon. Every flight teaches engineers something new. Carrying real satellites for the first time is a huge step. It shows Starship is moving closer to being a working spaceship, not just a test vehicle.
If tonight’s flight goes well, the next step could be something even more exciting: catching the giant booster in midair with the launch tower’s robotic arms.
Big Words
- Raptor engine — a super-powerful engine that burns liquid oxygen and methane to push the rocket upward
- booster — the big lower stage of a rocket that provides most of the push at liftoff, then separates and comes back down
- heat shield — a protective layer of tiles covering the rocket that keeps it from burning up when it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere
- Starlink — SpaceX’s system of hundreds of satellites that beam fast internet to people all over the world
- abort — a safety stop; when a computer automatically cancels a launch because something does not look right
Fun Fact
Starship’s Super Heavy booster has 33 engines firing at the same time at liftoff. Together they produce more thrust than any rocket ever built — more than twice as powerful as the Saturn V that carried Apollo astronauts to the Moon!
Think About It
If you were designing a rocket that had to carry people safely to the Moon and back, what is the one thing you would want to test most carefully?
Sources
- Space.com — SpaceX will now try to launch critical Starship Flight 13 test on July 24 after delays
- Spaceflight Now — Live coverage: SpaceX ready for 2nd attempt to launch Starship Flight 13
- Wikipedia — Starship flight test 13
- Space Launch Schedule — SpaceX Flight 13 Starship Rocket Launch