SpaceX is preparing for the 13th test flight of its massive Starship rocket on Thursday. The liftoff is scheduled to take place from the company's South Texas Starbase.
The rocket is a critical part of Elon Musk’s plans for his space, satellite, and artificial intelligence conglomerate. It is central to ambitions to put data centers in space and send humans to the moon and Mars.
The vehicle has faced a rocky development path marred by malfunctions, delays, and explosive setbacks. SpaceX says it will have to figure out what went wrong before making another attempt.