Mere weeks after Starship’s breakup, the vehicle may soon fly again

A little over a month after SpaceX's large Starship launch ended in an explosion over several Caribbean islands, the company is preparing its next rocket for a test flight. According to a notice posted by the Federal Aviation Administration, the eighth test flight of the Starship vehicle could take place as early as February 26 from the Starbase launch site in South Texas. The launch window extends from 5:30 pm local time (23:30 UTC) to 7:09 pm (01:09 UTC). Company sources confirmed that this launch date is plausible, but it's also possible that the launch could slip a day or two to Thursday or Friday of next week. This is an important flight for SpaceX to get the Starship program back on track. During the last mission on January 16, the massive rocket's first stage performed normally, and a few minutes after launching, it was successfully and spectacularly caught by its launch tower in South Texas. However, a few minutes into the flight of the Starship upper stage, a fire develope ... Read full article.