After Back-to-Back Flops, SpaceX Says Starship’s 9th Test Flight Is a Go

SpaceX’s Starship is set to launch as soon as Tuesday, May 27, after receiving the go-ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this week. This will be the ninth test flight for this heavy-lift rocket, a key part of SpaceX’s mission to eventually send humans to Mars and a critical component of NASA’s Artemis Moon program. We’ll be paying closer attention than usual this time given that the last two launches did not go so well. The seventh test flight in January ended with Starship’s upper stage exploding roughly eight-and-a-half minutes after launch. The rocket met a similar fate during its eighth test flight in March. Things went smoothly for its Super Heavy booster, which the 400-foot-tall Mechazilla tower’s “chopstick” arms successfully caught. But toward the end of the upper stage’s ascent burn, six of its nine Raptor engines died, sending the vehicle into a tumble. SpaceX lost contact with Ship 9 minutes after launch, and it exploded shortly thereafter. The incident ... Read full article.