On Tuesday, SpaceX’s Starship rocket lifted off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, for its sixth test flight. Eric Gay/AP Hide Caption
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Eric Gay/AP
On Tuesday, SpaceX’s Starship rocket lifted off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, for its sixth test flight.
Eric Gay/AP
SpaceX’s Starship rocket took off again on Tuesday, performing its sixth test flight. A crowd, including President-elect Donald Trump, gathered at a launch site in Texas to watch the plane fly around the world and head to the Indian Ocean.
Starship, the largest rocket ever built, is Elon Musk’s dream to make humanity a multi-planetary species. However, rocket manufacturing has a huge impact on the planet. The launch site is located in the middle of Texas’ largest wildlife refuge, and environmentalists say each launch causes damage.
Additionally, how government regulations for launches may change under the second Trump administration.
Read more about science correspondent Geoff Brumfield’s report here.
Want to learn more about the future of space exploration? Email your ideas to shortwave@npr.org — we’d love to hear from you.
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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson. Edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Fact checked by Tyler Jones and Jeff Brumfield. The audio engineer was Maggie Luther.
