SpaceX’s spacecraft is about to attempt a 10-hour spaceflight: watch live.

After more than 40 months of test flights, EspaceX will try to put his mammoth Spacecraft orbit the Earth for the first time and bring it back for a safe landing – 10 hours later.

The company, founded by a billionaire Elon Muskplans to launch the rocket from its private platform in Starbase, Texas, as soon as 8:15 a.m. ET on Monday, September 28.

Previous flights reaching space only flew up and down, meaning gravity naturally pulled Starship back towards the ground like a thrown ball. But to stay in space, it must instead fly sideways at 17,500 mph. At this astonishing speed, the spacecraft continues to “fall” toward the ground, but the Earth’s surface curves at exactly the same rate. This is what allows the spacecraft to continually stay in space without ever crashing into the planet.

“To date, flight tests have intentionally flown passively safe suborbital trajectories to maximize public safety while allowing maximum learning,” according to SpaceX. “By going into orbit, the next phase of Starship’s development to be fully and rapidly reusable can begin.”

The upcoming test, marking Starship’s 14th flight, is the latest step in the company’s long campaign to become the most powerful rocket ever built in a reusable vehicle – one capable of transporting heavy cargo, surviving a scorching return to Earth, and supporting NASAThe Artemis lunar missions of . Beyond that, Musk’s personal priority involves using the rocket and ship to send people to Mars.

SpaceX says it will broadcast the launch in South Texas on his website And Xthe social media platform also owned by Musk. The broadcast is expected to begin around 7:45 a.m. ET, approximately 30 minutes before takeoff. The actual firing time of these 33 Raptor engines depends on weather conditions, fueling operations and other factors. The team has until 9:30 a.m. ET to get it off the ground.

It’s incredibly early for a Starship review – for good reason. Flight controllers prepare for a long day at the console. The plan is to send the Starship around the planet six times before crashing into the Pacific Ocean, west of Chile. Although most flights end in just over an hour, this 10-hour flight will undoubtedly be a stress test.

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Starship is the combined name of SpaceX’s super-heavy booster and spacecraft. The 400-foot stack towers over NASA’s mega-lunar rocket, the Space Launch System. SpaceX estimates its stainless steel rocket also has about twice the thrust, propelled by 10 million pounds of liquid methane and oxygen.

During Monday’s test, the spacecraft will fire an engine again to increase its speed and enter orbit, if it appears healthy. Flight controllers have the ability to ignore this burn and allow it to return to Earth, crashing into the Indian Ocean, if something goes wrong.

While Starship is in orbit, the team will monitor thousands of pieces of data about engines, computers, navigation, fuel tanks, communications and other systems. The spacecraft is expected to circle the world at an altitude of 170 miles, well below the International Space Station, which orbits about 250 miles above Earth.

Starship will attempt six orbits around Earth on its 14th test flight.
Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX will attempt another first during the test. Although Starship carried 20 real satellites (as opposed to dummies) on its last flight in July, these were not expected to become operational. They fell back and burned up in the atmosphere.

This time, Starship will attempt to deploy 26 Starlink V3 Internet satellites and actually put them into operation. If all goes well, they should enter service within a few weeks. Three of the dishes will be equipped with cameras to provide images of the test and observe the ship’s heat shield.

Then, to complete the mission as planned, Starship will need to fire again to leave its orbit and return to Earth’s atmosphere. But no matter how long the test lasts, SpaceX intends to cover it. So, buckle up.