Starship’s third flight test.
This is the third fully integrated full stack test flight of Starship and the mighty Super Heavy booster, the largest and most powerful rocket to ever fly. It produces over twice as much thrust as the Saturn V that took humans to the moon.
The goal of the test is to get further along than IFT-2 in November, 2023, which didn’t see either the ship or the booster make it to reentry. If all goes well, Starship will re-enter in the Indian Ocean about 65 minutes after it lifts off from Starbase, TX, on a suborbital trajectory.
This test features a few new things like opening and closing a small payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration and a Raptor engine relight demonstration.
A 110-minute launch window opens at 12:00 UTC.
UPDATE 11:05 UTC
Weather is 70% favorable for today’s third integrated flight test of Starship.
UPDATE 11:30 UTC
Launch reported at 12:30 UTC.
UPDATE 11:50 UTC
New liftoff time is 13:02 UTC (8:02 a.m. CT), team is clearing a few boats from the keep out area in the Gulf of Mexico.
UPDATE 12:05 UTC
Now targeting 13:10 UTC (8:10 a.m. CT).
UPDATE 12:25 UTC
The Starship team is go for prop load but keeping an eye on winds, now targeting 13:25 UTC (8:25 a.m. CT) for liftoff.
Watch Starship's third flight test https://t.co/1u46r769Vp
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 5, 2024
