Elon Musk confirms biggest Starship Super Heavy launch on May 20

SpaceX is about to do something it has never done before: It will launch an entirely new rocket. The American space company is targeting May 20, for the 12th flight test of its Starship vehicle, the most powerful rocket ever built.

But this time, almost everything on the rocket is different.

WHAT IS STARSHIP FLIGHT 12 ALL ABOUT?

Starship is a two-part rocket system. The lower section, or the first stage, called Super Heavy, is the booster. This is a giant engine cluster that pushes the rocket off the ground.

The upper stage, called Starship, is the spacecraft that goes into space and carries crew and cargo. Together, they are taller than the Statue of Liberty, twice over.

For this 12th test, both parts have been redesigned from the ground up.

They will also be powered by an upgraded version of SpaceX's Raptor engine, a type of rocket engine that burns liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The launch pad at Starbase, SpaceX's facility in Texas, has also been rebuilt for this flight.

WHAT WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN DURING THE FLIGHT?

The rocket will lift off at 5:30 pm Central Time on May 19 (5 am IST on May 20) from Starbase. About two and a half minutes after launch, the Super Heavy booster will separate from the Starship upper stage.

It will then perform a boostback burn, firing its engines in reverse to slow itself down, and attempt a controlled landing in the Gulf of America.

Because this is a new vehicle making its first flight, SpaceX will not attempt to catch the booster with its launch tower's mechanical arms this time.

Meanwhile, the Starship upper stage will continue into space. It will deploy 22 Starlink simulators, which are dummy versions of SpaceX's internet satellites, and attempt to relight a single Raptor engine while in space.

Crucially, the last two of the Starlink simulators will not just float away quietly. They will turn their cameras back on Starship itself, scanning its heat shield and transmitting imagery down to engineers on the ground.

This is SpaceX testing a method to remotely check whether Starship's heat shield is ready to return to the launch site on future missions. It is like giving the rocket a health check from space.

To help with this, several tiles on Starship have been painted white, serving as imaging targets for the satellites to lock on to.

One heat shield tile has been deliberately removed from Starship's underbelly to measure how the surrounding tiles respond to the extreme heat of re-entry.

The flight will also test a banking manoeuvre designed to mimic how future Starships will return to Starbase.

WHEN CAN YOU WATCH IT?

A live webcast will begin 30 minutes before liftoff on SpaceX's website and on X.

The schedule is subject to change, so keeping an eye on SpaceX's official channels is advisable.