Starship was meant to fly

Later today, SpaceX is scheduled to launch the third test flight of its record-setting Starship megarocket after the previous two launch attempts ended in a fiery explosion – or, as SpaceX likes to call it, “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”

Why it’s a big deal: Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built – though powerful may be an understatement. It’s able to generate a staggering 16 million pounds of thrust, or nearly 2x that of the previous record holder, NASA’s SLS rocket, which was used in the Artemis I mission two years ago.

• The Starship program is part of SpaceX’s effort to make space travel more akin to air travel, with launches every day and greater accessibility to the public.
• CEO Elon Musk has said that if SpaceX can get the fully-reusable, 100-passenger Starship to fly regular missions, it could bring down the cost of each launch by a factor of about 7. (For context, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket currently costs $67 million/launch.)

👀 Looking ahead… Starship, once fully operational, is set to be busier than Princess Kate's PR team over the past few days. The rocket is currently scheduled to carry a crew of astronauts to the Moon in September 2026, as part of NASA’s historic Artemis III mission. And SpaceX has also announced plans for future private missions to the Moon and Mars using a fleet of Starships.