SpaceX successfully launches its Starship megarocket to orbit, returning it to Earth for the first time (2024)

Relive the launch in slo-mo

Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, called today's test flight an "epic achievement."

"Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!" he posted on X.

SpaceX employees toasted marshmallows to celebrate Starship's "toasty" ride through the atmosphere.

It will likely take some time for the company to release data and results from today's outing, but SpaceX continues to make progress with each ambitious Starship test flight.

Starship appears to have successfully executed its first-ever landing burn before splashing down in the ocean. It's not yet clear how much of the ship survived re-entry through the atmosphere, but mission controllers confirmed that the vehicle completed the key burn.

Video feeds from Starship have been spotty during re-entry, as is to be expected but you can hear cheers from SpaceX employees at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, every time live views return.

"This is a nail-biter," one launch commentator said.

Splashdown is expected in a few minutes, but it's unclear how much of Starship has survived at this point.

Pieces of Starship appear to be burning off as the spacecraft makes its way through the atmosphere.

Debris seems to be covering the onboard cameras, at least one of which now has a cracked lens, but the company still seems to be able to collect data from Starship.

Cameras are capturing incredible live views of Starship's re-entry, showing plasma building around the spacecraft as it travels through the atmosphere.

It's rare to get a real-time look at this intense and high-stakes phase of a space vehicle's return to Earth.

The entire re-entry process is expected to last for about 6 minutes.

If Starship survives the fiery trip through the planet's atmosphere, it should then fire its engines to flip over, then execute a key landing burn before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

Starship is now attempting to execute the primary objective of today's test flight: re-entering Earth's atmosphere and splashing down in the Indian Ocean.

There is typically a communications blackout during this time, so it may take some time to confirm if the vehicle has survived the re-entry process.

This morning's liftoff followed yesterday's launch of Boeing's Starliner capsule to the International Space Station. It's the spacecraft's first crewed flight — veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are currently onboard in low-Earth orbit.

The Starliner spacecraft is expected to dock with the space station today at 12:15 p.m. ET. You can catch up on the news of yesterday's launch here.

Starship has been flying for more than 20 minutes. Roughly 47 minutes into the flight, the vehicle will attempt to re-enter the atmosphere and land "softly" in the Indian Ocean.

It will be high-stakes moment for SpaceX. During Starship's last test flight in March, the company said it lost contact with the spacecraft roughly 50 minutes into the flight, at an altitude of around 40 miles.

Today, SpaceX is hoping to show that Starship can survive the extreme temperatures of atmospheric re-entry and execute a controlled splashdown.

The live webcast is pausing for about 30 minutes as Starship continues to coast in orbit.

The next milestone will come when Starship attempts to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and splash down in the Indian Ocean.

You can hear big cheers erupt from SpaceX employees at each milestone of the flight. The team has already accomplished one of the main objectives of today's test.

SpaceX confirmed that the Super Heavy booster executed a successful landing burn and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a big milestone for the company.

Starship is now expected to coast for about 40 minutes up to an altitude of roughly 130 miles.

Meanwhile, the Super Heavy booster is attempting to make a controlled and "soft" landing in the Gulf of Mexico. During Starship's last test flight in March, Super Heavy did not execute a planned landing burn and was lost at around this stage of the flight.

Separation of Super Heavy:

The Starship spacecraft has successfully separated from the Super Heavy first-stage booster, SpaceX confirmed.

The rocket's ascent seemed smooth, though it looked like one of the rocket's Raptor engines did not light at liftoff.

SpaceX quickly posted a video of Starship's liftoff:

The rocket passed through what's known as "Max Q," the moment of maximum dynamic pressure on Starship's ascent. The vehicle is now supersonic, flying faster than the speed of sound.

The rocket has cleared the launch tower.

SpaceX officials said the rocket and spacecraft are now fully loaded with 10 million pounds of propellant.

SpaceX said it is not working any issues ahead of the targeted launch at 8:50 a.m. ET.

If any issues do crop up, the company has a built-in hold in their launch countdown at T-minus 40 seconds. That means they can hold there for up to 30 minutes, if needed.

It looks cloudy around the launch pad, but SpaceX says weather conditions remain 95% favorable for this morning's launch.

Take a look at what's in store for Starship as it prepares to journey into orbit and back.

SpaceX is aiming to show that both the Super Heavy first-stage booster and Starship spacecraft can survive re-entry through Earth's atmosphere and achieve a "soft" splashdown.

Super Heavy is targeting a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. After reaching orbit, the Starship vehicle will aim to splash down in the Indian Ocean.

Both objectives will be crucial in developing Starship into a fully reusable system, which SpaceX has said will drive down costs and allow for quicker turnarounds between launches.

While full reusability is the company's ultimate goal, SpaceX said it is not planning to recover any hardware from today's test flight.

SpaceX's webcast of today's launch has begun. You can follow along on X.

The nearly 400-foot-tall Starship megarocket is the most powerful booster ever developed. It is designed to take astronauts to the moon — and one day, perhaps on to Mars.

NASA is separately developing its ownSpace Launch System megarocket and Orion spacecraftfor missions to the moon. As part of the agency’s Artemis program, NASA envisions regular missions to establish a base camp on the lunar surface before an eventual mission to Mars.

But the two rockets have key differences. Unlike NASA’s Space Launch System, SpaceX's Starship rocket will be fully reusable. A key objective of today’s test flight will be to demonstrate that the booster’s first stage, dubbed Super Heavy, can safely return to Earth and splash down in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chris Hadfield posted his best wishes for a successful launch — and landing — for Starship.

SpaceX officials confirmed that fueling is currently underway. Starship uses liquid methane and liquid oxygen propellant.

SpaceX made steady progress with each of its three prior Starship tests. Therocket’s debut flight in April 2023ended when the booster exploded several minutes after liftoff.

Asecond Starship launchin November achieved several milestones, including the separation of the first-stage booster and upper-stage spacecraft, but thecompany lost contact with the vehicleshortly after.

Starship’s third test flight in March saw the spacecraft successfully reach orbit, but the vehicle was lost as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.

On Starship’s fourth test flight, SpaceX aims to show that both the upper-stage spacecraft and the rocket’s first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, can make controlled, safe landings on Earth.

During the last test flight, a planned burn in the landing process failed and the Super Heavy booster ultimately broke apart over the Gulf of Mexico. This time, SpaceX hopes to execute the landing burn successfully, achieving a “soft splashdown” of the booster in the Gulf of Mexico. It is also looking to nail a “controlled entry” of the Starship vehicle through Earth’s atmosphere before it splashes down in the Indian Ocean.

This morning's test flight will follow a similar trajectory as Starship's last outing in March. Here's a look back at some of the highlights from that launch.

SpaceX said it is now aiming to launch Starship at 8:50 a.m. ET. The company's webcast will begin at around 8:20 a.m. ET.

Starship's test flights have been closely watched because the booster and spacecraft are expected to play an important part inNASA’s return-to-the-moon program.

Starship was selected by NASA to carry astronauts to the lunar surface on the agency's upcoming Artemis III mission, which could launch in 2026.

SpaceX also hopes to use Starship to eventually reach Mars.

It's launch day for SpaceX's starship megarocket! The company will attempt to send Starship on a fourth, uncrewed test flight to orbit and back.

SpaceX's launch today is second of two back-to-back high-stakes spaceflights this week. Yesterday, we saw Boeing's Starliner capsule lift off with NASA astronauts onboard for the first time.

Starship will launch from SpaceX's Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas.The company is targeting a two-hour launch window that opens at 8 a.m. ET.