SpaceX’s next-generation mega rocket is ready to launch on a key take a look at flight Thursday morning in a bid to reveal new applied sciences and methods that shall be essential on future missions to the moon and past.The upcoming launch would be the rocket’s third and most formidable take a look at flight, in keeping with SpaceX. The occasion shall be intently watched as a result of the almost 400-foot-tall booster, often known as Starship, is predicted to play an vital half in NASA’s return-to-the-moon program.Starship will launch from SpaceX’s Starbase take a look at website in Boca Chica, Texas. Liftoff is predicted at 9:10 a.m. ET, however that timing is tentative and will change based mostly on the rocket’s standing and climate on the launch website. The 110-minute launch window opened at 8 a.m. ET however SpaceX adjusted its focused liftoff time because it labored to clear boats away from hazard within the Gulf of Mexico.RecommendedSpaceX stated early Thursday that climate situations had been 70% favorable for the take a look at flight. The launch shall be streamed reside on SpaceX’s web site starting round 8:30 a.m. ET.With this flight, SpaceX is hoping to reveal that Starship can perform a managed re-entry by way of Earth’s ambiance earlier than splashing down within the Indian Ocean. Earlier than that, the take a look at additionally contains a number of totally different aims from the rocket’s earlier two outings. This time round, SpaceX will try to fireplace one in all Starship’s Raptor engines whereas in area, open and shut the automobile’s payload door, and switch propellant between two of Starship’s tanks in orbit. Many of those methods may assist SpaceX perform future missions to deploy satellites, in addition to set the stage for moon missions as a part of NASA’s Artemis program.Starship was chosen by NASA to hold astronauts to the lunar floor in the course of the upcoming Artemis III mission, which may launch in 2026.Starship’s debut flight final April was a harmful one, ending with the rocket exploding a number of minutes after liftoff. A second Starship launch in November achieved a number of milestones, together with separation of the first-stage booster often known as Tremendous Heavy and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft, however the firm in the end misplaced contact with the automobile.Denise Chow is a reporter for NBC Information Science centered on common science and local weather change.