Space fans walk the dunes as workers prepare the SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket as they attempt to schedule another launch launch from Starbase after it was scrubbed on April 17, 2023.
Jonathan Newton | The Washington Post | Getty Images
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched its towering Starship rocket to space for the first time. It’s the culmination of years of regulatory work and technological tests.
The company made a first go at getting this launch off the ground on Monday, but a pressure valve in the Super Heavy booster apparently froze. The company’s teams worked to resolve a number of unidentified issues to make a second attempt possible on Thursday.
SpaceX leadership has repeatedly stressed the experimental nature of the launch and said any result that involved saw Starship get off the launchpad would be a success.
The company had hoped to conduct the first orbital Starship launch as early as summer 2021, but faced delays in development and in winning FAA approval, which came late Friday.
Starship is designed to carry cargo and people beyond Earth and is critical to NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon. Two years ago, SpaceX won a nearly $3 billion contract from NASA to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander. That would see Starship be used for as part of NASA’s Artemis moon program, delivering astronauts to the lunar surface from the agency’s SLS rocket and Orion capsule.
Watch SpaceX’s live stream below and follow along for live updates out of South Texas.
