SpaceX launch - live: Starship SN15 launches and lands in critical flight over Texas
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Your support makes all the difference.SpaceX has successfully launched and landed a prototype of its Mars-bound Starship rocket. The next-generation spacecraft lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Wednesday.
Starship SN15’s high-altitude flight test follows four previous attempts that all ended in massive explosions. SpaceX boss Elon Musk said previous issues with the rocket’s Raptor engines had been fixed “six ways to Sunday”.
The latest attempt took place at around 5.30pm local time (11.30pm BST) on Wednesday, after airspace clearance was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), road closures were in place with Cameron County, and marine hazard notices had been issued.
An official live stream of the launch was shared by SpaceX, which you can see below.
Starship SN15 flight expected Tuesday
There will be no Starship SN15 flight test today, after the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) was removed for Monday.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website, TFRs are in place for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Cameron County is yet to update its website with road closure notices but these can be posted relatively last minute.
SpaceX issues evacuation notice
Unusually for a weekend, SpaceX has issued an evacuation alert notice for today. It warns that “space flight activities” between 5am and 7pm could pose a danger to local residents of Boca Chica Village.
For example, a malfunction of some kind could create an “overpressure event” that leads to broken windows. It is the same wording that was used in an alert notice ahead of a Starship SN15 static fire test earlier this week.
There are currently no road closures in place around the Starbase facility in Boca Chica, suggesting that whatever testing is going on is not a flight test.
We’ll let you know if this changes, but as things stand we are expecting a fresh launch attempt as early as Monday.
Roads reopen around SpaceX’s Starbase facility as Starship SN15 launch scrubbed
Cameron County has just updated its website, cancelling the road closures that were in place today.
No reason has been given, and there’s been no official word from SpaceX, but that signals that today’s Starship SN15 launch is off.
Cameron County does not authorise launches over the weekend, so the next opportunity will likely be on Monday.
We’ll bring you any updates if the situation changes, but otherwise we’ll be back on Monday. Thanks for joining us, and hopefully see you then!
How the Starship SN15 launch should go
All four high-altitude flight tests of Starship craft have ended in explosions, with only one - Starship SN10 - actually managing to stick the landing (before exploding on the landing pad eight minutes later).
The tests last roughly six minutes from lift off to landing, and according to SpaceX Starship should be “powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude.”
Starship SN15 should then perform “a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent”.
This looks something like a belly-flop in practice, and should be followed by a complex landing flip manoeuvre powered by one or two of the Raptor engines that will take the craft steadily to the ground.
Hopefully it won’t look like this:
But instead more like this:
SpaceX yet to evacuate village
One of the main fundamentals for the launch to proceed is the evacuation of Boca Chica Village, which is yet to happen.
These can be issued at very late notice, and are necessary to protect residents from falling debris, or even broken windows caused by explosions.
The final factor potentially holding back today’s attempt is the weather. It’s looking very overcast at the moment, and there is a storm front not too far away.
Poor visibility is not enough to hold back the launch - as evidenced by the fog-shrouded Starship SN11 test - however lightning or heavy wind and rain could scupper plans for the launch.
It is currently forecast to be dry over Boca Chica, Texas for the next six hours, but that could change. Here’s the current weather radar:
Starship SN15 status
There are numerous variables that need to line up for a Starship flight test to go ahead.
These include airspace clearance and flight approval with the FAA, local road closures in place with Cameron County, evacuation of the nearby Boca Chica Village, a marine hazard notice posting - as well as all the technical preparations for the actual rocket itself.
It’s for this reason that SpaceX doesn’t actually publicise its launch attempt times until just a few minutes to go, but we know it could be anytime between now and 5pm local time (11pm BST), as per the road closures in place.
The FAA has also authorised the launch, releasing a statement yesterday. The good news is, it appears to cover launches for Starship SN16 and Starship SN17. Here’s what the agency said:
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