SpaceX aborts ‘chopstick’ catch of world’s biggest rocket – as it happened

to The Independent’s live coverage of SpaceX’s latest attempt to launch and land the biggest rocket ever built.

The Starship rocket is currently stacked atop its Super Heavy booster at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

A 30-minute launch window will open at 4pm local time (10pm GMT), with all systems and weather forecasts looking good for lift off.

We’ll have all the latest news and updates right here.

SpaceX has shared some photos of Starship on the launchpad at its Starbase facility in Texas. In a post on X, the firm said that everything is looking good for today’s flight test.

One image shows the world’s biggest rocket silhouetted against the Moon, where it could be heading as early as 2026. SpaceX has a multi-billion dollar contract with Nasa to deliver crew and cargo to the lunar surface as part of its Artemis program. If successful, it will be the first time astronauts have stepped foot on the Moon in more than 50 years.

It’s only been a month since the last Starship flight test, which saw SpaceX successfully catch the Super Heavy booster rocket using “chopstick arms” on the launch tower for the first time.

“Are you kidding me?” SpaceX’s Dan Huot said from the launch site. “I am shaking right now.”

SpaceX’s Kate Tice added: “This is a day for the engineering history books.”

You can read all about it here:

Donald Trump is reportedly in Texas to watch today’s Starship launch.

Just days after watching UFC 309 and sharing a Mcdonald’s with SpaceX boss Elon Musk, the president-elect is heading to Starbase to witness Flight 6 of Starship.

Musk has been a vocal supporter of Trump since July, pouring more than a hundred million dollars of his own money into the Republican candidate’s campaign. In return, Trump has placed Musk in charge of the yet-to-be-formed Department of Government Efficiency.

Today’s launch will be 119th rocket that SpaceX has sent to space this year, marking a new record for the private space firm.

It is more than 20 more than the previous record of 96 set last year – and there’s still more than a month left to go of 2024 for SpaceX to push the record even further.

The vast majority of launches have been reused Falcon 9 rockets, proving how vital it is for SpaceX to perfect the landing of Starship today and make it another reusable workhorse for the company. Elon Musk hopes to build a fleet of hundreds of Starships, with multiple launches and landings a day in his mission to colonise Mars.

As the head of SpaceX, Elon Musk is not only launching more rockets than most other countries combined, he also now controls two thirds of all active satellites orbiting Earth. (It’s been a while since I updated this chart, but gives you an idea of his influence.)

All this power in the hands of the world’s richest person has led to increasing concerns from astronomers and advocacy groups. Through SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, he has the ability to skirt internet bans – like the one imposed on his other company X in Brazil earlier this year – and even impact the outcome of wars through its use by militaries fighting in Ukraine.

“There are concerns, especially when it comes to national sovereignty,” Paula Bernardi, a Sao Paolo-based internet policy adviser, told me in September. “It is concerning, for example, that one person could make the decision to take down the service for hundreds of thousands of people.”

You can read more about how Musk is taking over space here:

SpaceX’s sixth Starship flight test is only an hour and a half away – so what are we going to see?

Objectives include the Super Heavy booster returning to the launch site for a “chopsticks” catch, reigniting a ship Raptor engine while in space, and testing a suite of heatshield experiments and maneuvering changes for ship reentry and descent over the Indian Ocean.

Starship’s upper stage will fly the same suborbital trajectory as the previous flight test, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean.

Here’s a diagram of what it should look like:

A man has been arrested for allegedly trespassing on SpaceX property, according to local media reports.

The 40-year-old man managed to bypass security measures to enter SpaceX’s facilities in Brownsville, Texas, but was detained after security officers alerted police.

The incident won’t have any impact on today’s launch attempt.

SpaceX has just confirmed that propellent load of Starship’s Super Heavy booster is underway.

It’s T-minus 30 minutes until launch.