Skip to main content

SpaceX confirms readiness for launch of most powerful rocket

A senior SpaceX official has said that following a successful static-fire test of the Super Heavy’s engines, the next-generation rocket is ready for its first orbital test flight.

Gary Henry, SpaceX’s senior director for national security space solutions, said at this week’s Space Mobility conference in Orlando, Florida, that the engine test two weeks ago was “the last box to check” ahead of the rocket’s maiden test flight.

Recommended Videos

In comments reported by Space News, Henry added that both the launch vehicle and the launchpad were in “good shape” following the “successful hot fire,” which saw almost all of the rocket’s 33 Raptor 2 engines briefly blast into life in an exercise to confirm their readiness for flight.

SpaceX boss Elon Musk shared footage of the test in a tweet.

One day, Starship will take us to Mars https://t.co/oMrnBIiBjY

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 9, 2023

Two of the 33 engines failed to fire at full thrust during the test, leaving some to wonder if SpaceX might need to repeat the activity with all of the engines firing at the same time. However, Henry’s comments this week suggest the team is now making final preparations for launch and has no plan to conduct a second test.

Now SpaceX is waiting for launch permission from the Federal Aviation Administration. The company is expecting to receive the permit soon, as it’s eyeing March for the test flight.

The upcoming mission will see the Super Heavy — the most powerful rocket ever built — lift the Starship spacecraft to orbit from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

NASA is hoping to one day use the launch system for crewed missions to the moon and possibly the first crewed missions to Mars, giving it another transportation option alongside its recently tested Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft.

A modified version of the Starship spacecraft is set to land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface by the end of this decade as part of the highly anticipated Artemis III mission.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket just set a new record
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching in April 2025.

Following a mission early on Monday, the first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket entered the record books by becoming the first one to launch and land 27 times.

The Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at midnight on Monday, April 14, in a mission that successfully deployed 27 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit.

Read more
Trippy time-lapse shows Starlink satellites streak light across space
Starlink satellites as seen from the space station.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit has shared a new time-lapse video showing some of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites streaking across space.

Other lines of light appearing in the 18-second clip captured from the International Space Station (ISS) include city lights on Earth 250 miles below, and those of distant stars.

Read more
SpaceX is about to try something new with its mighty Starship rocket
The Starship launching from Starbase in October 2024.

SpaceX has just test fired a Super Heavy booster ahead of the Starship’s ninth flight test.

The ground-based firing of the world's most powerful rocket took place at SpaceX’s Starbase site in Boca Chica, Texas, on Thursday.

Read more