Hi friends, it’s your Space Coast correspondent James Sparvero looking forward to what we expect will be the third flight test of the largest, most powerful rocket in history.
This Thursday, SpaceX hopes to launch Starship, Elon Musk’s holy grail for colonizing Mars and NASA’S lunar lander for the first astronauts to reach the surface of the moon since Apollo.
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Like the previous two launches within the last 11 months, first, SpaceX needs the FAA to grant its launch license. Back in November, that approval came down three days before Starship blasted off for a second time so if Thursday’s plans don’t change, we should expect the feds to give SpaceX the green light as soon as today!
While that second liftoff pushed Starship’s development further by reaching new milestones, you probably remember it still ended with a bang. Of course, an explosion also abruptly ended the first flight test too, last April. SpaceX stresses these first launches are tests meant to “maximize learning.”
In this flight, the company says its list of goals (as it hopes Starship reaches orbit for the first time) include a “successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship.”
After liftoff from Texas and nailing those goals (and pending it doesn’t blow up this time), Starship on Thursday would end what would be its most successful flight yet with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
For now, the launch is expected at 8 a.m. Stick with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com for updates!
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👋 Here’s a little bit more about me.
Little did I know when watching Apollo 13 in the third grade that 20 years later, I was destined for a thrilling career as your Space Coast multimedia journalist.
Chemistry and biology weren’t so interesting to me in high school science, but I loved my Earth and Space class (Thanks, Mr. Lang).
Then in 2016, I traded Capitol correspondent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for space correspondent. I’m proud that my first live report at News 6 happened to be the first time SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 booster on a barge. What seems so routine now was a really big deal that day in our newsroom!
From there, I’ve covered the Commercial Crew program and the return of human spaceflight to Kennedy Space Center (Demo-2 launched on my 33rd birthday!)
Now, as our coverage looks forward to missions to the moon and Mars, I often tell others I have the best job in local news. Because after all I’ve seen so far, I think I would be bored working somewhere else. I even bought a house near the Cape with a great view to the north so I never miss a launch even when I’m not working.
After seven years on the beat, though, I still consider myself a young space reporter and I always look forward to learning something new with every assignment.
Have a great launch into the rest of your week!