SpaceX stacks Flight 6 Starship megarocket before launch on November 19 (Photos)

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A large silver spacecraft is placed on top of a booster near a launch tower at night. — SpaceX stacks its sixth Starship megarocket at its Starbase site in South Texas ahead of a planned launch on November 19, 2024. | Credit: SpaceX via X

SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket has come together ahead of its sixth-ever test flight next week.

SpaceX has stacked Starship‘s two elements – the Super Heavy booster and the Ship upper stage spacecraft – at the orbital launch pad at the South Texas Starbase.

The company confirmed the milestone on Friday evening X afterwith four photos of the stacking process and its aftermath.

a giant silver rocket sits next to the launch tower at night

That message also announced a date change for the flight: it has been moved from Monday (November 18) to Tuesday (November 19). The launch will take place over a 30-minute period beginning at 5:00 PM EST (9:00 PM GMT; 4:00 PM local Texas time).

Super Heavy and Ship made the trip to the launch pad separately earlier this week. Stacking them on top of each other created a vehicle almost 122 meters high – the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.

a giant silver rocket stands vertical on its coastal path at sunrise

SpaceX is developing Starship, which is designed to be completely and rapidly reusable, to help humanity settle the moon and Mars.

NASA is already a customer; The space agency selected Starship as the first crewed lander Artemis program of lunar exploration. If all goes according to plan, Starship will deliver the Artemis 3 astronauts to the moon’s surface in September 2026, in the first manned lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.