X

Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship update: How to watch the special event live

Musk will detail his plans for the interplanetary rocket tonight and you can follow all the big announcements here.

Eric Mack Contributing Editor
Eric Mack has been a CNET contributor since 2011. Eric and his family live 100% energy and water independent on his off-grid compound in the New Mexico desert. Eric uses his passion for writing about energy, renewables, science and climate to bring educational content to life on topics around the solar panel and deregulated energy industries. Eric helps consumers by demystifying solar, battery, renewable energy, energy choice concepts, and also reviews solar installers. Previously, Eric covered space, science, climate change and all things futuristic. His encrypted email for tips is ericcmack@protonmail.com.
Expertise Solar, solar storage, space, science, climate change, deregulated energy, DIY solar panels, DIY off-grid life projects. CNET's "Living off the Grid" series. https://www.cnet.com/feature/home/energy-and-utilities/living-off-the-grid/ Credentials
  • Finalist for the Nesta Tipping Point prize and a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
See full bio
Jackson Ryan Former Science Editor
Jackson Ryan was CNET's science editor, and a multiple award-winning one at that. Earlier, he'd been a scientist, but he realized he wasn't very happy sitting at a lab bench all day. Science writing, he realized, was the best job in the world -- it let him tell stories about space, the planet, climate change and the people working at the frontiers of human knowledge. He also owns a lot of ugly Christmas sweaters.
See full bio
Eric Mack
Jackson Ryan
2 min read
starship111

Starship stands tall.

 SpaceX

A new kind of rocket has been coming together quickly on the Texas Gulf Coast over the past few months. SpaceX calls it Starship Mk1, and it's just been stacked for the first time ahead of Saturday's update from CEO and founder Elon Musk. 

Note: This event has ended. You can read a full recap of the announcements by clicking this link.

The top half of the prototype spacecraft was lifted onto the bottom section Friday for final mating. Musk is set to give a presentation updating the design of Starship and his plans for the interplanetary spacecraft on Saturday Sept. 28. The special event will take place at the company's development site in Boca Chica, Texas, with the Mk1 as the backdrop.

The webcast is set to begin at 6 p.m. PT (9 p.m. ET) and will be streamed live via SpaceX's YouTube channel. 

Of course, you don't have to go anywhere because we've got that link right here:

Starship Mk1 stands taller than a 10-story building at 164 feet (50 meters), according to Musk. It's been fitted with three big Raptor engines that could send it on its first test flight to an altitude of 12 miles (20 kilometers) as soon as next month. Musk has also said this iteration should be able to make it to orbit in later flights. 

We can expect a few more prototypes before we see the final Starship in action. It will be paired with a new Super Heavy rocket booster for missions beyond Earth orbit. 

Watch this: SpaceX aces Starhopper rocket test

Musk is expected to detail more of those plans Saturday. In previous presentations, the 21st-century rocket man has told us about his ambitions to build a city on Mars with the help of Starship, introduced the mission to fly a group of artists around the moon and teased transcontinental flights via space. The event shares a historic date in SpaceX history, marking 11 years to the day that the company put a rocket into orbit. 

Elon Musk Shows Off the Shiny SpaceX Starship

+38 More
See all photos

Originally published Sept. 27.