SpaceX is preparing for more frequent launches of its Starship mega rocket.
The company is currently launching Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, from an orbital launch pad. Starbase is a site near the South Texas border town of Brownsville. However, SpaceX is working to install a second launch pad at the facility and recently reached a major milestone toward that goal.
“Second launch tower as latest addition to Starbase,” the company announced on Wednesday (August 21) via X in a post that included three photos of the facility under construction.
However, more work is needed before Starships can lift off from the new platform. For example, the platform’s launch pad is not yet installed, as the newly released photos show. And the tower is still missing the “stick” arms that will position Starships on the mount and catch the returning boosters of Starship’s first stage after launch.
Related: SpaceX tests Super Heavy Starship booster before 5th flight (video)
SpaceX is developing Starship – a fully reusable, 122-meter-tall behemoth – to help humanity colonize the Moon and Mars and achieve a number of other bold exploration goals.
The company has conducted four Starship test flights so far — two in 2023 and two this year. The most recent mission, which launched on June 6, was a success; Starship’s upper stage reached space, and both it and the booster (known as Super Heavy) splashed down in the ocean unharmed as planned.
SpaceX is currently preparing for Starship’s fifth test flight, which could take place as soon as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration gives the green light. The company has already conducted test runs with both Starship stages and says the vehicle is ready for launch.
This flight, like the four Starship missions before it, will launch from Starbase, but SpaceX also plans to launch Starship from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is working to make that happen in the relatively near future.
