Starship launch LIVE: SpaceX attempts historic test of world’s biggest rocket

After months of delays, SpaceX will finally attempt to launch its massive Starship rocket into orbit for the first time. Saturday’s attempt comes seven months after the first effort to launch a fully stacked Starship – which is both the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built – ended in a catastrophic explosion, just minutes after lift off. SpaceX boss Elon Musk says Starship holds the key to making humanity a multi-planetary species, with plans to build hundreds of the spacecraft in order to set up a permanent human colony on Mars. But first Starship must successfully conduct an uncrewed orbital test, which will see it leave from its launchpad at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, before flying almost all the way around the Earth and splashing down off the coast of Hawaii. A 20 minute launch window opens at 7am CT (1pm GMT), with the flight expected to last around 90 minutes. We’ll be bringing all the latest updates, as well as a live stream as soon as it is available.