Richard Lawler

We know how it ended, but this is how the flight test began.

That’s one way to describe the end of Starship’s first test flight. On the NASA Spaceflight stream, those who were present described it as a primarily auditory experience, so even the videos and GIFs may not capture whatever just happened.

The flight test didn’t make it all the way to Hawaii as projected, but it did clear the tower. From the streams, we could see some of the booster’s engines shutting down before it went into a spin, and eventually, the flight was terminated, as the craft blew up just a couple of minutes into the test flight.

The first SpaceX Starship orbital test flight is on its way.

No word on why or for how long, but the Starship launch isn’t happening just yet. The flight director announced a hold, which SpaceX’s broadcast previously noted could occur for up to 15 minutes or so; we’ll update once we have more details.

The countdown continues to tick away, and we haven’t heard of any issues that will stop today’s Starship flight test.

No word on any wayward boats or aircraft, and SpaceX seems to think they’ve got the valve issue that scrubbed Monday’s attempt figured out, so we may see the Starship test launch attempt today.

If you’re watching the NASA Spaceflight stream, you’ll see even more exhaust coming from the spacecraft, as its Raptor engines are chilled in preparation for launch.

Elon Musk and SpaceX’s rocket launch plans for the “Starbase” at Boca Chica, TX, have had opposition for quite a while. Still, in light of today’s Starship flight test attempt and the recent FAA license issued, some folks have revisited the possible environmental impact.

No notes about weather this time.