### SpaceX Attempts Ninth Starship Launch with Major Modifications

SpaceX, spearheaded by CEO Elon Musk, is set to conduct the ninth flight test of its ambitious Starship spacecraft on Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. ET. Musk envisions Starship as the vehicle to eventually transport humans to Mars. However, before that milestone can be achieved, the spacecraft must prove it can fly and return to Earth safely and reliably.

The test, which will be unmanned, will take place from SpaceX's Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas. This test follows two recent attempts that ended in the destruction of their prototypes. A similar setback occurred in March during the eighth flight test, where a "hardware failure" with one of the engines led to an unexpected shutdown and subsequent loss of control and communication with the vehicle. The spacecraft disintegrated over South Florida and parts of the Atlantic, leading to debris falling and temporary ground stops at nearby airports. Social media was flooded with images and videos of the debris streaking through the sky.

A near-identical failure happened in January, attributed to stronger-than-anticipated vibrations that caused a propellant leak and explosion. In these instances, while the upper stage was lost, the first-stage booster successfully returned to the launch site, caught by giant robotic "chopsticks" attached to the launch tower.

In preparation for this ninth test, SpaceX has implemented significant modifications to the Starship's upper stage. The company stressed that though the failures in January and March occurred around the same time in their missions, the root causes were different. The spacecraft is set to be mounted on top of a 400-foot Super Heavy rocket powered by 33 Raptor engines, making it the most powerful rocket system ever developed.

Unlike SpaceX's partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket, Starship aims to be completely reusable, capable of launching, landing, and flying again with minimal maintenance. This test will notably be the "first launch of a flight-proven Super Heavy booster," according to SpaceX. This booster was previously used and returned in the seventh test flight, and for the upcoming test, 29 of its 33 engines will be reused.

Interestingly, the booster won't aim to return to the launch site. Instead, it will follow a modified flight path and attempt a hard splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The company will be testing new landing configurations including the deactivation of one of the booster's engines during the final landing sequence to evaluate the backup systems.

The Starship upper stage plans to achieve several objectives that were missed in previous tests. These include deploying eight Starlink satellite simulators and performing an in-space relight of a Raptor engine. Additionally, it will undergo extreme heat testing by exposing vulnerable areas without thermal tiles during reentry, aiming to test different tile options and materials.

"Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable. But by putting hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we're able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle," SpaceX said in its launch announcement.