Once again, SpaceX has set a new record for the longest rocket ever built

On Monday, the SpaceX launch team loaded more than 11 million pounds (more than 5,000 tons) of super-cooled methane and liquid gas into both rocket stages after halting the booster test Saturday night due to a technical problem. The launch iteration followed the test of 33 Raptor engines at the launch site on May 6, the first time SpaceX had fired all of the Raptor 3s.

At liftoff, the rocket is expected to lift about 18 million pounds, about 10 percent more than the previous generation of Super Heavy boosters, according to SpaceX’s previous release. The scale is amazing. For example, in Version 3, the internal transfer tube that feeds the methane fuel from the top of the booster to the engine compartment is the same as the first stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which is 12 inches (3.7 meters).

The upcoming flight will also be the first flight from the new launch pad at Starbase, about 1,000 feet (300 meters) west of the launch pad for all of SpaceX’s previous Starship flights. This will be Starship’s 12th full test flight, and the first since last October, after a delay in V3’s initial launch.

Like most Starship missions, the rocket’s upper stage will undergo a controlled collision in the Indian Ocean less than an hour before landing. On future missions of Starship V3, SpaceX will try to bring the ship to the Starbase to be captured by the platform’s mechanical equipment, as the company has already demonstrated with the rocket’s Super Heavy booster.

One change that SpaceX is bringing to this launch is a route to the south of the Gulf of Mexico, taking the rocket between the northeast coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and the western tip of Cuba, instead of going through the Florida Straits.

What is left before the Starship V3 is ready to fly? On SpaceX’s part, the crew must deploy the rocket’s self-destruct devices, pyrotechnics that will detonate the vehicle if it deviates from its flight path. This will require the ship to be removed from the booster. The license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration is still in effect.