Elon Musk’s Starship rocket set for fifth test flightpublished at 12:57 British Summer Time
Esme Stallard
Science reporter
There’s less than half an hour to go before SpaceX’s Starship blasts off on its fifth test flight as Elon Musk pushes ahead in his quest to one day take astronauts to the Moon – maybe even to Mars.
During this flight, the SpaceX team will attempt something that’s never been done before.
Unlike the previous flight, when the booster splashed down in the Indian Ocean, it will slow itself down and descend gently back toward the launchpad for a pair of giant mechanical arms to catch it – in what’s known as the “chopsticks manoeuvre”.
The difficulty of this cannot be overstated. Everything will have to go right.
Launch is currently expected at 13:25 BST. Get comfortable – it’s going to be a nail-biting seven minutes.
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