Starship launch livestream: Watch SpaceX’s fourth launch here

SpaceX is preparing Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, for its next test launch. Here is everything you need to know.

What time is the launch expected to happen?

The launch looks likely to take place today, pending regulatory approval – each flight must be signed off by the US Federal Aviation Administration. SpaceX says on its Twitter feed that a livestream will begin at 12.30pm UK time.

Judge Eddie Treviño in Cameron county, Texas, which is home to SpaceX’s Starbase launch site, has issued orders for nearby roads to be closed. In official documents Treviño had said specifically that these closures are for “flight testing”, setting out a window of 14 hours between midnight and 1400 local time.

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Where is Starship going?

The fourth flight test will focus on getting Starship back from orbit and carrying out a mock landing of both it and the Super Heavy first-stage booster. A touchdown on land is currently deemed too risky, so both vehicles will make a “soft splashdown” into the ocean. They will use their engines to slow their descent, line up as if they were landing back at base, and gently plop into the water. The first-stage booster is due to land around 7 minutes after lift-off in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the launch site, while Starship will aim for splashdown in the Indian Ocean around an hour later.

What happened during previous Starship launches?

There have been three Starship launches, all ending in explosions, although that is an expected part of SpaceX’s fail-fast, learn-fast strategy.