The test comes after two previous failures and as Elon Musk plans to give a presentation on how the company plans to reach Mars.
STARBASE, Texas -- SpaceX is expected to launch its Starship rocket Tuesday evening in a mission that comes after two previous failures and as Elon Musk, returning to his companies after a controversial stint in the White House, looks to inject renewed energy into his space venture.
A stainless-steel behemoth that stands 400 feet tall, Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket, and its test flights are crucial to the future of America's space ambitions.
It is a key part of NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon under its Artemis program. And Musk conceived of the fully reusable vehicle in the first place as a way to get people to Mars, SpaceX's ultimate goal.
After his controversial stint in Washington, as a Trump adviser and the head of the U.S. DOGE Service effort, there are signs that Musk is eager to get the Starship program back on track. Before the launch window opens at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, the SpaceX founder and CEO is scheduled to give a presentation at the company's South Texas factory here about his plans -- inspiring to many, quixotic to others -- to regularly send Starships to the Red Planet ahead of a human landing.
The usual drama behind a launch is heightened this time around because the previous two Starships exploded over the Gulf of Mexico in tests this year. The company needs to prove it can fly Starship without another failure -- or what the company calls a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."
The company has said it has learned from the past failures and made upgrades for this flight. If SpaceX can't launch Starship because of weather or a technical delay, it could try again in the coming days.
The Federal Aviation Administration oversaw SpaceX's investigation into the two mishaps and cleared the company for flight. But given the potential for another failure, the FAA has for this flight dramatically expanded what's known as the "aircraft hazard area," a safety zone that air traffic must steer clear of during the launch. For the last test flight, it was 885 miles; for this flight, it is 1,600 miles extending from South Texas through the Straits of Florida to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, the FAA said.
Starship comprises two stages -- the Super Heavy booster, which has 33 engines, and the Starship spacecraft itself, which has six. During the previous two test flights, the booster flew successfully, then returned to its launch site, where it was caught by a pair of chopstick-like mechanical arms in a stunning display of aerial acrobatics.
For this flight, the company said it intends to put the booster through a gantlet of "off-nominal" scenarios to see how it performs. As a result, it is expected to fall into the Gulf of Mexico instead of returning to the launch site. If the mission unfolds as planned, the Starship spacecraft will fly around the globe and splash down in the Indian Ocean.
Tuesday's scheduled test comes as NASA is seeking to inject a sense of urgency into its delayed Artemis program. NASA has said its goal is to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2027.
The space agency is investing some $4 billion into Starship, which would ferry astronauts to and from the lunar surface. Blue Origin, the venture owned by Jeff Bezos, also has a contract to develop a spacecraft to land astronauts on the moon. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
SpaceX must prove it can complete a series of increasingly difficult challenges, from being able to refuel the Starship spacecraft in Earth orbit -- a feat that has never been accomplished -- to flying people in it and eventually landing on the surface of another celestial body. But there have been setbacks, including delays in Starship's development, that make the 2027 date unlikely.
Meanwhile, China plans to send astronauts to the moon before 2030, and some members of Congress are worried it will get there before the U.S. is able to return.