SpaceX is continuing to make progress on the development of Starship, the largest rocket ever built, with the third test flight Thursday accomplishing considerably more than the previous two tests.

The 400-foot-tall Starship rocket lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in southeastern Texas at 8:25 a.m. local time. Although SpaceX has been developing Starship for years, this is only the third time the company has attempted an orbital mission.

After liftoff, Starship proceeded through a nominal — aerospace speak for normal — ascend. All 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster performed as designed, and the two stages separated around 2 minutes 45 seconds into the mission. Critically, the launch vehicle nailed a novel stage separation technique called “hot staging,” where the upper stage (also called Starship) lights its engines to push away the Super Heavy booster. The hot-staging technique was performed for the first time, ever, during the second Starship test flight last November.

[TIME SUBJECT TO CHANGE] This is the third fully integrated full stack test flight of Starship and the mighty Super Heavy booster, the largest and most powerful rocket to ever fly. It produces over twice as much thrust as the Saturn V that took humans to the moon.

The goal of the test is to get further along than IFT-2 in November, 2023, which didn’t see either the ship or the booster make it to reentry. If all goes well, Starship will re-enter in the Indian Ocean about 65 minutes after it lifts off from Starbase, TX, on a suborbital trajectory.

This test features a few new things like opening and closing a small payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration and a Raptor engine relight demonstration.

Want more information? Check out our Prelaunch Preview written by Austin Desisto — https://everydayastronaut.com/starship-superheavy-integrated-flight-test-3/

SpaceX is targeting Thursday for the third flight of Starship. The license from the FAA was acquired. The flight will feature several upgrades to Booster and Ship, as well as a modification of the flight path to the Indian Ocean, instead of Hawaii. In space, SpaceX plans to demonstrate the payload dispenser door, and the capability to relight a Raptor in Space. Additionally, SpaceX wants to demonstrate the capability of in-space cryogenic propellant transfer.

The mission will attempt a soft splashdown of Booster 10 in the Gulf of Mexico, and a splashdown of Ship 28 in the Indian Ocean.

Window Opens: March 14th at 7:00AM CDT (12:00 UTC)
Window Closes: March 14th at 9:00AM CDT (14:00 UTC)

Mission: Starship’s third fully integrated test flight.

SpaceX will launch Starship early Thursday after receiving the green light from U.S. regulators.

It was an amazing learning opportunity.

The third orbital test flight of the 400-foot-tall megarocket could launch at around 8 a.m. EDT.

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