SpaceX to launch an even bigger Starship prototype

SpaceX is set to launch a new prototype of its Starship megarocket — the system NASA may use to land astronauts back to the moon — on a key test flight Thursday

SpaceX is set to launch a new prototype of its Starship megarocket — the system NASA may use to land astronauts back to the moon — on a key test flight Thursday.

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The test will be the 12th such flight for Starship but the first launch of the new third-generation Starship, dubbed V3, which is bigger, more powerful and a step closer to being fully reusable.

The rocket is scheduled to lift off from a new launchpad at SpaceX’s Starbase facility on the southern tip of Texas during a launch window that opens at 6:30 p.m. ET. Weather conditions are 55% favorable for the flight, according to SpaceX.