What time is the SpaceX Starship launch today?

Date has particular significance for Elon Musk

SpaceX is preparing to try once more to launch the biggest rocket ever made.

The company is planning to launch its Starship on 20 April, on what will be the first test of the spacecraft attached to the Super Heavy booster. Together, the rocket will be the biggest and most powerful ever made, and SpaceX hopes a version will one day fly to Mars.

First, however, it must take off and complete an orbital test. It was scheduled to do so on Monday, 17 April – but that launch was postponed with just minutes left to go, because of a problem with a pressure valve.

Now it is targeting 20 April for the launch. That date has particular significance for chief executive Elon Musk, because of its association with cannabis and its regular use as a joke on the internet.

:: Follow live coverage of the launch here.

The launch window will open on 20 April at 8.28am local central time, or 2.28pm in the UK. It will stay open for 62 minutes, closing at 9.30 am central time.

A live broadcast will begin on SpaceX’s website and YouTube channel about 45 minutes before that window opens. Live coverage can also be followed on The Independent.

Notable, SpaceX’s wording says that the company is “targeting as soon as” April 20 for the launch, and Mr Musk has said on Twitter that the launch might not happen on that date. As such, it may be postponed – either well in advance of the launch, or just minutes before, as it was on Monday.

SpaceX has not said when it would reschedule the launch to, if Thursday’s window is not used. On Monday, it suggested that the decision on the new date was partly about how far it had gone through its countdown, and therefore how much work would be needed both to correct the issue and return to the point where a launch could be attempted again.