Tuesday, SpaceX’s rocket Starship lifted off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas for its sixth test flight.
Eric Gay/AP
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Eric Gay/AP
Tuesday, SpaceX’s rocket Starship lifted off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas for its sixth test flight.
Eric Gay/AP
SpaceX’s Starship rocket took off again Tuesday for its sixth test flight. Crowds, including President-elect Donald Trump, gathered at the launch site in Texas to watch it fly part way around the world to the Indian Ocean.
Starship – the largest rocket ever made – is the dream of Elon Musk, who hopes to make humans a multiplanetary species. But building the rocket is having a real impact on Earth. The launch site is located in the middle of one of Texas’ largest wildlife sanctuaries and environmentalists say every launch is causing damage.
Plus, how government regulation of launches may change in a second Trump administration.
Read more of science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel’s reporting here.
Want to hear more on the future of space exploration? Email us your ideas to shortwave@npr.org — we’d love to hear from you!
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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. It was fact-checked by Tyler Jones and Geoff Brumfiel. The audio engineer was Maggie Luthar.