SpaceX has shared photos (below) of the Super Heavy booster arriving at the launch pad at its Starbase site in southern Texas.
That just leaves the Ship spacecraft to be placed atop the Super Heavy as SpaceX targets Monday for the 11th launch of the Starship.
One of the images shows a close up of the 33 Raptor engines at the base of the Super Heavy booster, while another shows the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms holding the booster in place. These are the same so-called “chopsticks” that have secured the booster on its return base in several of the earlier flight tests, though the upcoming mission will see the Super Heavy perform a controlled landing on water rather than back at base.
Another photo shows a couple of Tesla Cybertrucks in front of the booster — SpaceX and Tesla are both led by Elon Musk. In an odd twist, some folks are suggesting that this particular image is AI-generated due to the apparent distortion of the back wheel on one of the vehicles, but this has not been confirmed.
NASA will be watching Monday’s launch with interest as it plans to use a modified version of the Ship for the Artemis III mission that will put the first humans on the moon since the final Apollo mission some five decades ago.
Artemis III is currently set for 2027, but NASA officials recently suggested that the date could slip by “years.”
During a meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel last month, Paul Hill, a former NASA space shuttle flight director and director of mission operations, described the schedule as “significantly challenged,” adding that it “could be years late for a 2027 Artemis III moon landing.”
The message came despite a largely successful flight test of the Starship in August, though SpaceX still faces many challenges to get the vehicle ready for a mission to the moon.
The Super Heavy creates around 17 million pounds of thrust at launch, making it the most powerful rocket ever built. The liftoff is a spectacular sight and is likely to attract large crowds keen to witness the rocket leaving the pad and heading skyward. Alternatively, if you’re interested in watching a livestream of Monday’s flight test, Digital Trends has you covered.
