Starship launch news – live: SpaceX launches world’s biggest rocket, which explodes shortly after

Sensors have detected a problem with pressurisation on the rocket, SpaceX says. Engineers are working to fix it.

If they can’t, then they can hold the count. But they’d be likely to treat today’s launch as a dress rehearsal and use another of the launch windows.

In the meantime, the rocket is still being loaded with its propellant.

(There’s also still one boat in the way, SpaceX said. The coastguard are working to move it.)

Everything is looking good for the launch so far, SpaceX said. Weather is nice, and the range has been almost entirely cleared of boats.

The only thing it is watching is for winds, which are currently fine but could pick up later in the window.

If something does go wrong today, then SpaceX will have the option of postponing and trying again in 24 or 48 hours. Which of those they choose will depend on how far they get through the countdown.

Here on this imagery from SpaceX, you can see how much of the rocket is made up of Starship itself, the actual spacecraft that humans could one day use to fly to the Moon.

The rest is made of the the ‘Super Heavy’ booster. That will drop off early in the mission and drop into the water. (Usually it would aim to land again for re-use, but SpaceX has decided this test is already ambitious enough and it won’t be doing that this time around.)

Both of those pieces have been tested, to various degrees, before. But today’s launch will be the first time that the two of them have been attached together and then shot into space.

The rocket is standing proud on its pad in south Texas. We’re seeing some stunning images of it as morning arrives, with just over half an hour to go.

(SpaceX has noted that the view won’t be quite as good once the rocket sets off; at home on the launchpad, there are a whole load of cameras available to look at, but the live coverage will become a little less spectacular once the journey begins.)

Elon Musk has tweeted about proceedings. It’s notable less for the update –everything is proceeding on schedule – but more the fact that he sounds confident we will get liftoff.

Yesterday he said there was a good chance that the launch will be postponed. (It still very much could be, of course.)

The ‘Super Heavy’ booster is now getting fueled up, SpaceX says. (This is important for at least a couple of reasons: the fuel is obviously required to lift off the ground, but it also turns the rocket into a much more dangerous thing should anything go wrong.)

SpaceX is now targeting 8.20am local time, or 2.20pm in the UK, it has said in a tweet.

British astronaut Tim Peake is excited about today’s launch. He says it will be responsible for a “new era of deep space exploration”.

“SpaceX really is thinking big with Starship. This is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. But its ambition goes way beyond its gargantuan size: it is hoped that the rocket will herald a new era of deep space exploration, unlocking the potential for humans to visit other planets,” he said.

“This programme could be the launchpad for hugely exciting scientific research. I’m convinced that collaboration with commercial operators like SpaceX is vital for pushing the boundaries and enabling this new era of deep space exploration.”

Here’s a neat little animation showing the journey that Starship will take when (or if) it lifts off today. You can see the two parts splitting, then the spacecraft making its way all around the Earth before splashing down in the sea.

Musician Grimes, Elon Musk’s sometime partner, seems to be attending the launch. She’s posted a tweet that seems to be celebrating.