SpaceX stacks Flight 6 Starship megarocket forward of Nov. 19 launch (pictures)

SpaceX’s Starship megarocket has come collectively forward of its sixth-ever take a look at flight subsequent week.

SpaceX has stacked Starship’s two parts — the Tremendous Heavy booster and Ship upper-stage spacecraft — on the orbital launch mount at its Starbase website in South Texas.

The corporate confirmed the milestone in a Friday evening X publish, which featured 4 pictures of the stacking course of and its aftermath.

A totally stacked Starship stands practically 400 ft (122 meters) tall. (Picture credit score: SpaceX by way of X)

That publish additionally introduced a date change for the flight: It has slipped from Monday (Nov. 18) to Tuesday (Nov. 19). Liftoff will happen throughout a 30-minute window that opens at 5 p.m. EST (2100 GMT; 4 p.m. native Texas time).

Tremendous Heavy and Ship made the journey to the launch pad individually earlier this week. Stacking them created a automobile practically 400 ft (122 meters) tall — the largest and strongest rocket ever constructed.

Associated: Starship and Tremendous Heavy defined

a giant silver rocket stands vertically at its seaside pad near dawn

Starship’s sixth take a look at flight is scheduled to launch on Nov. 19, 2024. (Picture credit score: SpaceX by way of X)

SpaceX is creating Starship, which is designed to be absolutely and quickly reusable, to assist humanity settle the moon and Mars.

NASA is already a buyer; the area company chosen Starship to be the primary crewed lander for its Artemis program of lunar exploration. If all goes in response to plan, Starship will ship the Artemis 3 astronauts to the lunar floor in September 2026, within the first crewed moon touchdown since Apollo 17 in 1972.

SpaceX stacks its sixth Starship megarocket at its Starbase site in South Texas ahead of a planned Nov. 19, 2024 liftoff.

Starship is fabricated from chrome steel and is designed to be absolutely and quickly reusable. (Picture credit score: SpaceX by way of X)

Starship’s earlier 5 flights occurred in April and November of 2023 and March, June and October of this 12 months.

Flight 5 offered numerous pleasure, as Tremendous Heavy got here again to Earth for a landing subsequent to Starbase’s launch tower, which caught the large booster utilizing its “chopstick” arms. SpaceX will attempt to duplicate this epic maneuver on Flight 6.

Ship, in the meantime, will splash down within the Indian Ocean, because it did on Flight 5.