SpaceX counting down to planned Starship launch in Boca Chica

South Texas’ anticipation continues to build as the third test launch for Space X’s Starship approaches, and now SpaceX is prepping for a Thursday, March 14, launch date. A fully stacked Starship rests on the launch pad, as of Tuesday, March 12.

The following four days are listed as possible backup dates. The window closes at 8:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, and Sunday, March 17, and increases to 9:13 a.m. again on Monday, March 18.

SpaceX’s third launch is set to address 17 corrective actions documented by the FAA during its investigation into Starship’s second test flight.

Objectives they hope to meet include “the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first-ever re-lighting of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship.”

As the company will use new techniques, the ship will fly a new trajectory with a landing in the Indian Ocean to maximize public safety. 

If the third launch is successful, Starship will take a large step toward Elon Musk’s aspirations of a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon, and Mars.