After two nail-biting and explosive test flights in 2023, a SpaceX Starship rocket has launched from the Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.Watch video of the launch in the player above.The deep-space rocket system is aiming to make it through an hour-long integrated flight test. If successful, the spacecraft will splash down in the Indian Ocean, putting the gargantuan vehicle in a position to move on to more complex test flights and, eventually, carry NASA astronauts to the moon맥스카지노�s surface.The target launch time was pushed back several times Thursday morning, most recently to give officials more time to clear some wayward boats out of nearby keep-out zones for safety reasons.The Starship vehicle 맥스카지노� which includes the upper Starship spacecraft and a rocket booster known as the Super Heavy 맥스카지노� took off from SpaceX맥스카지노�s private Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, at 8:25 a.m. CT (9:25 a.m. ET).The event is streaming live on the company맥스카지노�s website.SpaceX considers the Starship system crucial to its founding mission: to carry humans to Mars for the first time. And critically, NASA has chosen Starship as the landing vehicle that will ferry its astronauts to the lunar surface on the Artemis III mission slated to take off as soon as September 2026.Video below: SpaceX Starship explosion during test flight in April 2023The Super Heavy booster 맥스카지노� the first stage, or bottommost part, of the launch vehicle roared to life and soared out over the Gulf of Mexico.The Super Heavy booster burned through most of its fuel and broke away from the Starship spacecraft, the upper stage that rides atop the Super Heavy.The booster will aim to make an autonomous, controlled landing in the ocean, while the Starship spacecraft uses its own engines to continue propelling itself to breakneck speeds.Aiming for orbital speedsSpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said a primary goal of these early test flights is to get Starship to orbital speeds 맥스카지노� velocities quick enough to allow the spacecraft to enter a stable orbit around Earth.Typically, such a feat requires speeds topping 17,500 miles per hour.Starship will not, however, aim to actually enter orbit on this flight. Instead, the spacecraft will make a hard landing in the Indian Ocean 맥스카지노� hopefully more than 230 miles away from the nearest land mass, according to documents published by the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches.Starship tests and tech demosStarship will have to burn its engine for about six minutes before it enters a coasting phase. The spacecraft will then run through a few key tests and tech demonstrations.First, Starship will attempt to open its payload door 맥스카지노� a hatch that must swing ajar for the capsule to deploy satellites into space on future missions.Then, SpaceX will also carry out what the company is calling a 맥스카지노�propellant transfer demonstration.맥스카지노� The goal is to move some of the propellant on board the Starship vehicle from one tank to another, according to a December email from NASA explaining the test.SpaceX engineers designed that demo to begin hashing out how Starship will be refueled on future missions while it맥스카지노�s in orbit.NASA Artemis moon missionTopping off the spacecraft맥스카지노�s fuel will be critical for Starship맥스카지노�s high-profile missions down the road.When Starship makes a journey to the moon under NASA맥스카지노�s Artemis program 맥스카지노� it will have to sit in orbit close to Earth as SpaceX launches separate vehicles that will transport only fuel to the spacecraft. To get to the moon, SpaceX may have to make more than a dozen refueling trips.SpaceX received approval from regulators on Wednesday to carry out this latest test flight.About 49 minutes into flight, the Starship vehicle will attempt to plunge back toward the ocean.SpaceX맥스카지노�s explosive test-flight processMusk has said he맥스카지노�s more confident this flight will be successful compared with the 2023 attempts. A success would potentially give the company crucial data that could allow Starship to move on to more difficult test flights.맥스카지노�I don맥스카지노�t want to jinx it, but I think the probability of reaching orbit is good 맥스카지노� 80%,맥스카지노� he said during a recent talk posted to social media . 맥스카지노�Certainly the third flight is a much better rocket than flights one or two.맥스카지노�Still, SpaceX officials have repeatedly said the company does not expect 100% accuracy on these early test flights.맥스카지노�Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test. They aren맥스카지노�t occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning,맥스카지노� the company said in a statement posted to its website. 맥스카지노�This rapid iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX맥스카지노�s major innovative advancements.맥스카지노�