Powered by 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines, the 397-foot-tall two-stage rocket blasted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site at 5:51 p.m. SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Friday, July 24, 2026. A NASA graphic shows SpaceX's Starship moon lander in comparison with competitor Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander and the Apollo program's long-retired Lunar Excursion Module, or LEM, used to carry six two-man crews to the moon's surface between 1969 and 1972. "These include the critical design review, the long duration and propellant transfer demonstrations and the uncrewed lunar landing flight test." But in that case, a modified production model will be used instead of an actual moon lander.