Starship launch - live: SpaceX launches and lands world’s biggest rocket in crucial test of Mars ambitions

SpaceX says propellant load for Starship is now underway.

This should take another 15 minutes or so. Once this stage is complete, it is up to the SpaceX flight director to verify whether or not the rocket is go for launch.

The countdown currently stands at 45 minutes.

You can watch the Starship launch live stream right here:

With no crew or cargo onboard today, SpaceX says “the payload for this mission is data”.

Liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellent are still being loaded to the Starship rocket and its Super Heavy booster, with just over 20 minutes to go until launch.

There are currently no vehicle or weather issues, but SpaceX says a backup launch window will most likely be in 48 hours, just in case.

“Building upon what we achieved during Starship’s third flight test, our primary goal today is to get through the extreme heat of reentry,” SpaceX said.

“We’re continuing to rapidly develop Starship, putting flight hardware in a flight environment to learn as quickly as possible as we build a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.”

Usually in the build-up to these Starship flight tests, Elon Musk gives his odds for how likely it is to succeed. I haven’t seen any such forecasts this time (comment if you’ve seen anything), but SpaceX has one prediction for today. In its official countdown for the lift-off, SpaceX notes at 00:00:00: “Excitement guaranteed.”

More than half a million people are already tuned into the Starship launch live stream, which is way more than the last launch at this stage. That may be because it’s streaming exclusively on X, so all viewers are concentrated in one place.

SpaceX has shared an animation showing the route its Starship rocket should take if all goes well today. After lifting off from the Starbase facility in Texas, the Super Heavy Booster will drop away into the Gulf of Mexico before the main rocket continues on over the Atlantic Ocean, across the southern part of Africa dn then down into the Indian Ocean just before reaching Australia.

You can watch it here:

T-minus 10 minutes.

SpaceX has said that it is planning to build another launch tower at its Starbase facility in Texas, as well as two additional launch towers in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

It also wants to ramp up its production targets to eventually build one Starship per day. SpaceX boss wants a fleet of thousands to establish a self-sustaining human colony on Mars.

T-minus 5 minutes.

The official live stream for this Starship launch has just passed 1 million viewers, showing just how popular this rocket is.

All the propellant is loaded now, meaning we’re into the final stages of the countdown. There may be a hold at 40 seconds, where it can stay for up to 30 minutes.

Starship has lifted off successfully!

Starship has passed Max Q, which is the moment the maximum stress is put on the rocket.

One of the Raptor rockets on the Super Heavy booster appears to not be working, but this should not be critical. The next big test is hot stage separation, which is where the whole system exploded in an earlier test.

Another major milestone is passed, as Starship separates from its Super Heavy booster.

The booster will now return to Earth for a water landing in the Gulf of Mexico, while the main Starship rocket will continue now for another 40 minutes before attempting its own return to Earth.