How to watch SpaceX’s Starship integrated flight test

Thursday, (yes 4/20) SpaceX is set to conduct its second attempt at its first fully integrated launch of the company’s Starship rocket. A vehicle we’ve seen being developed out in the open for over four years now. Here is how to catch SpaceX’s historic moment.

How to watch Starship’s launch

SpaceX will provide a proper livestream just like they do for its Falcon 9 launches. The livestream will begin 45 minutes before liftoff. The company’s window for such will open at 8:28 a.m. CT and last until 9:30 a.m. CT. Leaving SpaceX with just about an hour to get Starship launched.

As we saw from Monday’s scrub, the live stream will be similar to the ones SpaceX does for the Falcon 9 with two hosts to talk us through the launch countdown. Joining those two will be John Inspruker, a long-time SpaceX employee who oversaw the development of the Falcon 9, to talk us through Starship’s count. Currently, Inspruker holds the position of Principle Integration Engineer.

This larger fan fair differs from previous SpaceX livestreams as they only started minutes before liftoff (or ignition) and just featured a countdown clock and video of the pad. We don’t know how long the stream will last, most likely ending shortly after the completion of the flight. Whether that’s a splashdown off the coast of Hawaii or sooner with more fire, we will have to wait and see.

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You can catch the stream on SpaceX’s YouTube channel and I would expect it to take place on the company’s social media pages as well. (That link goes directly to the stream, don’t get fooled by scam streams trying to sell you Bitcoin.)

Watching Starship’s launch in person

Well, if you are already down there or currently on your way down to Starbase to watch history, first off, I am feeling a bit a FOMO over not attending myself but enjoying not stressing over this delay. So a warning (again), it is going to be packed. I made the trek for Starship’s SN8 test flight, the first Starship low-altitude flight, and even for that, it was crazy on launch day. Between locals and out-of-town visitors like myself all wanting to see it happen. So keep that in mind no matter where you go, get there early and expect delays.

Really the only place you will be able to get great views of the launch will be north of Starbase on South Padre Island and Port Isabel. At the southernmost point of South Padre is Isla Blanca Park, the best and the only place for clear views of Starship’s launch pad. It will fill up quickly, so be prepared to wake up very early tomorrow morning to get in.

If you are looking to check out SpaceX’s site if Starship’s launch scrubs, Everyday Astronaut has a great video detailing what to do and not do around Starbase. (Also in article form)

Expect delays

SpaceX only has one hour tomorrow to launch. That is a tight timeline for SpaceX to make with a brand-new rocket. Monday’s attempt was delayed an hour before the day even started. So if you are in Texas to watch Starship’s launch, be prepared for this to take several attempts for everything to go right just for liftoff. Which means several days, maybe even the entire week.

Musk spoke in a Twitter Space before Monday’s launch attempt to lower expectations for the launch. “Many things can go wrong,” Musk said, and the consensus for the flight’s success was “Don’t blow up the pad.”