SpaceX Starship's 7th flight test today: How to watch
What's the story
SpaceX is gearing up for the seventh test flight of its mammoth Starship rocket today.
The launch is set for 5pm EST (3:30am IST, January 16) from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas.
The event will be live streamed on both SpaceX's website and the company's official X account.
The mission will be a major milestone as it will be the first test flight of a new version of the nearly 400-feet tall rocket.
Rocket details
Starship: The tallest and most powerful rocket
The Starship is a two-stage rocket, consisting of a massive booster named Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall upper spacecraft dubbed Starship or simply Ship.
Both stages are intended to be fully and rapidly reusable. This will be the seventh flight for the Starship, after successful launches in 2023 and across 2024.
The Super Heavy booster will leverage flight-proven hardware, including a Raptor engine reused from the fifth flight test.
Mission objectives
Starship Flight 7 to deploy mock Starlink satellites
In a new development for Flight 7, SpaceX plans to deploy 10 mock versions of its Starlink internet satellites, if all goes according to plan.
These dummy satellites won't stay in space for long. They will follow the Ship's trajectory and splash down in the Indian Ocean about an hour after liftoff.
The mission is part of SpaceX's ambitious plans for Starship in 2025, aiming to conduct up to 25 missions throughout the year.
Upgrades
What's new for Starship
This flight test will debut a suite of upgrades to the Starship upper stage, enhancing reliability and performance.
Notably, the forward flaps have been redesigned for improved aerodynamics and heat shielding. The propulsion system has also undergone significant enhancements, including a 25% increase in propellant volume, upgraded feedlines, and improved avionics.
Additionally, the heat shield will use new-generation ceramic times and also incorporates a backup layer for enhanced protection.
Future goals
SpaceX's ambitious plans for Starship in 2025
"This new year will be transformational for Starship, with the goal of bringing reuse of the entire system online and flying increasingly ambitious missions as we iterate toward being able to send humans and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars," SpaceX said in a Flight 7 mission preview.
The company's founder Elon Musk envisions using Starship for Moon and Mars missions as part of NASA's Artemis program.