SpaceX took off the Starship rocket this Thursday, the 14th . It is the third unmanned test flight of the rocket. The takeoff took place at 10:25 am (Brasília time) on the launch platform in Boca Chica, Texas, United States, and was broadcast live on the company's profile on X (formerly Twitter, which also belongs to Elon Musk , owner of SpaceX ). During launch, SpaceX seeks to demonstrate Straship's various capabilities, in procedures that must be verified, such as repeating the successful ascension burn of the two stages, the opening and closing of the Starship's cargo door, and propellant transfer during the cruise phase of the upper stage. Furthermore, during the test, the company hopes to perform the first restart of a Raptor engine in space and promote a controlled reentry. At 120 meters tall, the spacecraft is literally SpaceX's big bet to consolidate plans to take astronauts to the Moon through NASA's Artemis program. Future travel plans include going to Mars.

The contract signed with the American space agency provides for the development of a version of the vehicle capable of landing within this decade. In the second test flight, carried out in November 2023, the 33 engines of the “Super Heavy” booster operated as the rocket ascended. But shortly after the Starship's upper part separated from the booster, problems occurred with some engines, leading to the disintegration of the booster. Starship is a 120-meter-tall rocket and, according to information released, it is the most powerful ever built, with a thrust force of 74.3 meganewtons, more than double the power of the Saturn V rockets, used in Apollo missions to the Moon.