The massive Starship and Super Heavy booster successfully soared into the sky, launching from SpaceX's Starbase test and manufacturing facility in Boca Chica at about 8 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT; 7 a.m. local Texas time). Over on South Padre Island, just north of Boca Chica, a crowd of spectators gathered in the hundreds to witness the launch.
Hundreds of spectators gathered north of Boca Chica here on South Padre Island to witness the launch. They cheered as the orange light emitted by Starship's 33 first-stage Raptor engines through its plume of exhaust as the huge rocket began its climb. Standing at an impressive height of nearly 400 feet (122 meters), Starship is not only the largest but also the most powerful rocket ever constructed. Its towering presence at the Starbase launch pad can be spotted from miles away.
The uncrewed launch was planned to occur within a 20-minute timeframe starting at 7 am CST (1300 GMT) at SpaceX's Starbase site on the Gulf of Mexico near Boca Chica. Starship is mounted atop its towering Super Heavy rocket booster marking, the second attempted flight of both vehicles together.
The previous launch of Starship on April 20 didn't go as smoothly as this one. It ended with a self-destruct command just four minutes into the flight, resulting in a fiery explosion of the rocket.
SpaceX's Starship is expected to take astronauts to the Moon under the Artemis-III mission in 2025-26. This mission will mark the first time in fifty years that humans will set foot on the lunar surface.
(With Input from Agencies)
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