SpaceX will attempt to launch its Starship megarocket on a key test flight Tuesday, months after two launches both failed when the upper-stage vehicle exploded and rained debris over the Gulf of Mexico and parts of the Caribbean.

Tuesday’s uncrewed launch — Starship’s ninth test flight — is set to blast off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas , during a launch window that opens at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The 400-foot-tall Starship is the most powerful rocket ever developed and consists of two parts: a first-stage booster known as Super Heavy and an upper-stage spacecraft. The megarocket is the cornerstone of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ’s goal of reaching Mars.

After Tuesday’s test flight, Musk is expected to give a presentation from Texas on “the road to making life multiplanetary.”

Musk

See Full Page