Al Root

SpaceX is about to launch the ninth test of its huge Starship system, which the company believes will drive down costs to reach space and help make human life multiplanetary.

The launch is scheduled for Tuesday evening at approximately 7:30 p.m. Eastern. It can be watched here.

Before that, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk will talk about making life multiplanetary on his social-media platform X. Musk has long hoped to send humans to Mars, partly to help ensure the survival of humanity for generations to come. Musk suggested in September that SpaceX could send ships to Mars as soon as 2026, "when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens."

Earthlings have to wait for the orbits of Mars and Earth to align to shorten the trip. Mars is currently about 150 million miles from Earth, while the moon is about 240,000 miles. By 2026, the distance will shorten to some 35 million miles.

Starship will be the vehicle making the first trips, likely without a crew. It is the largest rocket launch system ever developed: The booster stage is roughly 240 feet tall, while the upper stage is about 160 feet tall.

Starship is designed to be fully reusable. That is a step forward for SpaceX, which pioneered reusable rockets but now only reuses the lower half of its Falcon launch systems. Reusing more parts, and the increased payload capacity of Starship, means lower costs to reach orbit.

Starship launches began in April 2023. There have been several explosions and several amazing feats. SpaceX has caught the lower half of the rocket, the booster stage, at its launch tower three times. Catching the booster is designed to speed up the time to relaunch and will make operations easier on Mars, where infrastructure is limited.

SpaceX has had a little more trouble with the upper half of the rocket: A couple of tests haven't hit all their objectives. In the eighth test, the upper stage lost attitude control, and the test was terminated early.

SpaceX is privately held, making it difficult for regular investors to own a piece of the business. The company currently accounts for more than half of all orbital launches globally.

Its success has helped other space start-ups raise money. The sector has flourished since the Nov. 5 election: President Donald Trump is focused on having NASA use more commercial providers for its space missions.

Coming into Tuesday trading, shares of space technology start-ups Rocket Lab and Intuitive Machines had gained 115% and 47% since the Nov. 5 election. The S&P 500 was roughly flat over that span.

SpaceX, for its part, has more than just government business. Its Starlink space-based Wi-Fi service is used by millions of individuals and companies around the globe. The service is profitable, according to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.

Whatever happens during the ninth test flight, it will be exciting, and millions will be watching.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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May 27, 2025 09:49 ET (13:49 GMT)

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