Watch Live: SpaceX 'Chopsticks' To Catch Starship Megarocket For Second Time

Watch Live: SpaceX 'Chopsticks' To Catch Starship Megarocket For Second Time

            The sixth flight test of SpaceX's Starship megarocket is targeted to launch during a 30-minute window that opens at 5 PM EST (2100 GMT; 4 PM local Texas time). 

The next Starship test flight aims to push the envelope of Starship and booster capabilities and prepare the entire launch system for reuse. 

https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Startship-Elon-Musk_0.jpg?itok=_ztffQp1


"Objectives include the booster once again returning to the launch site for 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," https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-6
. 

Elon Musk outlined Starship Flight 6's objectives on X:


The objectives for Starship Flight 6 are:
1. Restart of Raptor engines in vacuum.
2. Daylight landing of the ship.
3. Higher peak heating (steeper) reentry.
4. Faster/harder booster catch.
There are thousands of small design changes also being tested.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1858867695233425734?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Musk pointed out, "Current Starship is more than twice as powerful as the Saturn V Moon rocket. Starship V3, which hopefully flies in about a year, will be 3X more powerful."


Current Starship is more than twice as powerful as the Saturn V Moon rocket.
Starship V3, which hopefully flies in about a year, will be 3X more powerful. https://t.co/K0p8HuXH3b

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1858868285158137976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Even before the two-stage megarocket — featuring the Starship spacecraft stacked atop the Super Heavy booster — launches late afternoon, prediction market platform https://polymarket.com/event/will-the-chopsticks-catch-spacexs-super-heavy/will-the-chopsticks-catch-spacexs-super-heavy?tid=1732025472913
 has allowed users to wager on whether the Mechazilla arms (or chopsticks) at the Starbase launchpad near Brownsville, Texas, will successfully catch the Starship as it returns to Earth.

Last month's Starship Flight 5 https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/elon-musk-hints-sunday-starship-rocket-launch-amid-suspicious-faa-delays
.


Starship rocket booster caught by tower https://t.co/aOQmSkt6YE

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1845467052443828579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The Polymarket bet is titled "Will the chopsticks catch SpaceX's Super Heavy?" With about seven hours left before launch, users overwhelmingly bet confidently (about 80%) that chopsticks will successfully catch Starship. About $286k have traded on the contract so far. 



Polymarket has made betting on binary events in the news cycle possible. 

Watch the sixth Starship flight test:



Meanwhile, Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, told investors last Friday that the company https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/ahead-starship-launch-spacex-president-projects-400-launches-during-trump-era
 during President Trump's second term.

There is a report from Politico that President-elect Trump plans to watch the Starship launch with Musk in Texas.

      https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden

Tue, 11/19/2024 - 16:40

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/watch-live-spacex-chopsticks-catch-starship-megarocket-second-time