Starship: SpaceX’s big launcher will take off tomorrow April 17 in its full configuration

Barely the authorization of the FAA obtained (Friday 14 April) that SpaceX confirmed the launch date of the Starship. And there is no question of dawdling: Elon Musk to himself precise on his Twitter account that the shooting window would open this Monday, April 17 at 7 a.m. local time (12 p.m. GMT), or 2 p.m. French time. The big 120-meter-tall launcher will launch from the space base Starbase located in Texas. “Success perhaps, exaltation guaranteed! » commented Elon Musk, not necessarily very optimistic about the chances of success of the Starship and its booster super-heavy.

This will be the very first launch of the Starship in its full configuration, with its 33 active Raptor engines. If this test is confirmed, Starship will get a little closer to its first objective, which is to land astronauts on the Moon as part of the Artemis 3 mission. Incidentally, the Starship could pass in front of NASA’s SLS (98 meters high) and thus become the most powerful rocket in the world. The live broadcast of the launch will begin at 1:15 p.m. (French time), on the SpaceX website Or on his YouTube page.