What’s the goal of SpaceX’s 10th Starship test flight? Right the ship.

In South Texas, a bustling crowd of aerospace workers, construction crews, and space enthusiasts gathered this weekend as SpaceX gears up for the highly anticipated test flight of its Starship rocket. Standing at an impressive height of 404 feet (123.1 meters), this colossal vehicle is set to launch within a one-hour window beginning at 6:30 pm CDT (7:30 pm EDT; 23:30 UTC) on Sunday. However, weather conditions pose a significant concern for this launch attempt. According to SpaceX, there is only a 45 percent chance of favorable weather at the Starbase facility, located just north of the US-Mexico border. The flight will take approximately 66 minutes, concluding with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, northwest of Australia. This marks the 10th full-scale test flight for the Starship and its Super Heavy booster, representing the fourth attempt with the upgraded Starship designed as a precursor to a more robust version capable of transporting up to 150 metric tons (approximately 330,000 pounds) of cargo throughout the inner Solar System. Despite its ambitious goals, this version of Starship, referred to as Block 2 or Version 2, has faced a series of challenges. Following a run of increasingly successful flights in the previous year with the first-generation models, SpaceX has encountered multiple setbacks since the launch of Version 2 in January. Currently, only two of these Version 2 rockets remain available for testing, one of which is set for launch this Sunday. Following this flight, the company will transition to Version 3, which is designed for low-Earth orbit missions and subsequent deep-space explorations.