​SpaceX is launching the Starship system, the world’s largest rocket, from its base in Texas, which will play an important role in NASA’s program to return humans to the moon. The launch is scheduled for 15:00 – 15:20 and is the second flight of the fully equipped Starship.

In the seven months since the first test, which ended in an explosion four minutes after launch, major modifications have been made to the launch pad, as well as many minor changes to some of the rocket’s systems. The 122-meter-tall Starship system has a total of 39 engines, and during tests in April, some of them failed due to a fuel leak, leading to a fire.

The release was scheduled for Friday, but was canceled because the active part had to be changed

adjustment and stabilization of two rocket stages during descent.

SpaceX’s rocket consists of two parts: the Starship is the spacecraft/booster stage (with six Raptor engines) and the Super Heavy is the booster/main stage with 33 Raptor engines needed to escape Earth’s gravity.

In this test, Elon Musk and his people hope that the super heavy rocket and Starship will stay in space even longer. 161 seconds after launch, the two mega-elements should separate and go their separate ways.

The superheavy stage will fire its engines several times within minutes of liftoff and reverse course to reach the waters of the Gulf of Mexico seven minutes after liftoff, but before reaching the water it must slow down as if approaching a fixed landing point on the ground. The idea is that the system is also tested so that this step can be reused in the future.

The Starship segment will continue to climb, reach speeds of more than 27,000 km/h, and 90 minutes after launch, it will descend into the Pacific Ocean near the Hawaiian Islands. Obviously, this will happen if everything works “by the clock” and if nothing breaks.

In this test, SpaceX will not recover any of the elements, but the company hopes they will successfully separate and reach the ocean (Super Heavy 7-8 minutes after launch, Starship 90 minutes).

Starship will not make a complete orbit, but it is expected to reach a speed of 28,100 km/h and reach an altitude of 250 km.

It is important that the future tests of the Starship system are successful, otherwise NASA plans to return humans to the moon at least in 2026, since 2025 seems impossible.

As a reminder, the Starship launches became possible at the end of November, after the Federal Aviation Administration gave Elon Musk’s company approval for a second orbital launch, almost seven months after the first test on April 20, which was a failure.

On April 20, Starship lifted off in full configuration for the first time, but several engines failed and the SpaceX ground team intentionally detonated the rocket with the Flight Termination System (FTS). In recent months, this system has been improved to start faster when needed, as it was 40 seconds late in the first test.

Elon Musk explained that a fire broke out inside Stasrhip when the rocket was gaining altitude, and this fire destroyed part of the engines, as well as computers, causing the rocket to move on a chaotic trajectory.

The detonation occurred at an altitude of 39 km, but the thrown debris also destroyed part of the launch pad. This month, SpaceX installed a launch vibration damping system on the ramp that will be activated ten seconds before launch.