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Third Time’s the Charm? Starship Flight 13 Is Launching Tonight!
Quick Summary
SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket is scheduled to blast off tonight from South Texas. It is the 13th time Starship has tried to fly. This time, it will carry a very special set of brand-new satellites into space.
What Happened?
Starship is the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket. It stands taller than a 40-story building — that’s about as tall as stacking 67 school buses end to end! SpaceX has been testing it bit by bit, learning something new with each flight.
The rocket was supposed to fly on July 16. But right at the very last second — literally the moment the engines were supposed to ignite — four of its 33 powerful Raptor 3 engines failed to light up. The rocket’s computer noticed the problem and automatically shut everything down to stay safe. No one was hurt. The rocket just needed a checkup.
Engineers swapped out the engines that didn’t light. After checking everything carefully, SpaceX set a new launch window for tonight, July 23. The launch window opens at 6:45 p.m. Eastern Time.
This flight will also try something that has never been done before. Tucked inside Starship’s cargo bay are 20 brand-new “V3” Starlink internet satellites. These are the newest, most advanced internet satellites SpaceX has ever built. The mission will test whether Starship can successfully release them into space.
The plan for tonight also includes the giant first-stage booster — called Super Heavy — splashing down safely in the Gulf of Mexico after separating from the upper rocket. SpaceX has been working on making every part of Starship reusable, so it can fly again and again like an airplane.
Why Does It Matter?
Starship is being built to one day carry astronauts to the Moon and even Mars. NASA is counting on it for future Moon missions. Each test flight teaches engineers something important, even when things don’t go perfectly. Getting V3 Starlink satellites into space would also help bring fast internet to more people on Earth who don’t have it yet. Tonight’s launch is a big step in that journey.
Big Words
- Raptor 3 engine — A super-powerful rocket engine that burns liquid oxygen and methane fuel to push a rocket into space.
- Suborbital — A flight that goes very high up into space but comes back down without going all the way around the Earth.
- Reusable rocket — A rocket designed to be used again after landing, instead of falling into the ocean like older rockets did.
- Starlink V3 satellites — The newest generation of SpaceX’s internet satellites, designed to beam fast internet down to the ground.
- Launch window — The specific block of time when conditions are just right for a rocket to safely lift off.
Fun Fact
The 33 Raptor engines on Starship’s Super Heavy booster together produce more pushing force than any rocket ever built in history — more than twice as much as the Saturn V rocket that took astronauts to the Moon in 1969!
Think About It
Rockets sometimes fail and try again. Scientists and engineers learn from every attempt. Can you think of something you tried more than once before you got it right?
Sources
- Space.com — SpaceX will launch Starship, the world’s largest rocket, on critical Flight 13 test on July 23
- Spaceflight Now — SpaceX targets July 23 for crucial Starship Flight 13 test launch after abort
- Advanced Television — Delayed Starship to launch on July 23
- Wikipedia — Starship flight test 13