Starship towering above the Texas coast. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX is on track to have the most powerful space-worthy rocket in history, a vehicle soon expected to outperform NASA's mega moon rocket, which flew its maiden voyage in 2022. The aerospace company, founded by Elon Musk, is laser-focused on bringing Starship into operational use. Since April 2023, SpaceX has launched five test flights of the skyscraping rocket and spacecraft. Though the first three ended prematurely in explosions, the fourth, in June, ended without anything blowing up, and the fifth, in October, even succeeded in returning the colossal booster to the launch pad, a crucial step toward reusability. During the upcoming sixth test flight, Starship flight controllers will once again attempt to send back the booster for capture and have a controlled splash down of the spacecraft in the Indian Ocean. These tests are a critical demonstration of hardware for NASA, which is depending on Starship to get humans back on the moon in the next few years. And, if successful, it'll mean Musk is one small step closer to realizing his personal dream of building a city on Mars. The billionaire business magnate has oversold timelines in the past. Here's what we know so far about when SpaceX will try to fly this. SEE ALSO: What happened to Starship during its previous test flights? The company has already flown five Starships. The first three exploded, but the last two survived. The rocket first launched on April 20, 2023, exploding 24 miles above the Gulf of Mexico about four minutes later. The rocket didn't separate from its colossal booster, which had caught fire from leaking fuel, and flipped as it fell in the air back toward Earth. The self-destruct system was commanded for both the booster and ship after several of the engines didn’t fire, though aerodynamic pressure ultimately caused the ship to break apart. During the second test on Nov. 18, 2023, Starship reached space but not orbit, exploding about eight minutes into the flight. In that test, the rocket demonstrated a new method of separating the booster from the spacecraft in the air, known as "hot-staging." SpaceX's Starship didn't make it to orbit during its first attempt to fly in space on April 20, 2023. It appeared to explode on its descent about four minutes after liftoff. Credit: SpaceX Then on March 14, the ship reached orbital speed and demonstrated a first step toward being able to refuel in space, transferring several tons of liquid oxygen between internal tanks. In June, Starship survived the maximum heat of reentering Earth's atmosphere and performed a key flip and landing burn before hitting the Indian Ocean. In its latest fifth flight on Oct. 13, the rocket defied expectations by successfully sending the booster back to the launch pad, where it was caught mid-air with mechanical launch tower arms, on its very first try. The flight ended with a controlled splash down in the water, just as planned. Where will Starship launch? Perhaps surprisingly, Starship won't lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where most space fans are accustomed to watching historically significant launches. Instead, it will take off from Boca Chica, Texas, at SpaceX's own spaceport, known as Starbase. Eventually, the company will launch the rocket from a site under construction in the outer perimeter of the famous Florida pad that shot Apollo 11 to the moon. "Their plan is that they're going to do a few test flights there" in South Texas, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. "Once they have the confidence, they will bring the missions to the Cape." How can I watch the Starship launch? If you're not on the list to get onto SpaceX's private Starbase but in the South Texas area, you could try viewing the flight test from a public beach on South Padre Island, such as Cameron County Amphitheater at Isla Blanca Park or Port Isabel. Locals are known to host watch parties. For viewers at home, SpaceX will start a live broadcast of the countdown about a half-hour before liftoff. The launch window is 5 to 5:30 p.m. ET. The livestream feed will be available on SpaceX's website, and updates will be posted on X, the social platform also owned by Musk. Related Stories