SpaceX Starship spotted from space ahead of historic April 20 launch

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The fully stacked Starship shines from orbit as it prepares for a leap into space.

SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy rocket are seen from orbit by a Maxar Earth-observation satellite as they stoop atop their pad at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas on April 17, 2023.
SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy rocket are seen from orbit by a Maxar Earth-observation satellite as they stoop atop their pad at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas on April 17, 2023. (Image credit: atellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies)

An eye in the sky spotted Starship sitting on its pad ahead of launch.

SpaceX's Starship is supposed to make its orbital debut now no earlier than Thursday (April 20), following a scrub on April 17 due to a launch issue. The 62-minute window opens at 9:28 a.m. EDT (1328 GMT) and you can watch live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX.

While Starship waits for its next launch opportunity, a Maxar satellite saw the spacecraft fully fueled on its Texan pad from orbit.

"Today's #satellite image (April 17, 2023) of the Boca Chica launch facilities in Texas with a view of the #Starship and Super Heavy rocket on the launch pad," Maxar officials wrote in a tweet. "Today's scheduled launch of the most powerful rocket ever constructed was scrubbed. Stay tuned!"

Related: What time is SpaceX's 1st Starship launch on April 20?

SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy rocket stand atop their launch pad near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas in this Maxar satellite photo of SpaceX's Starbase test site taken on April 17, 2023. (Image credit: Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies)

On Twitter, RGV Aerial Photography showed another view from above of Starship, but from much closer: Only about 10,500 feet (3,200 meters). Mauricio Atilano, owner of the company, wrote on Patreon that he has been documenting SpaceX's growth at Boca Chica since 2018 with drones, cameras and weekly rentals of a Cessna 182 aircraft. 

Once the launch gets off the ground, it will be the first flight ever for a fully stacked Starship and Super Heavy combination. SpaceX plans to bring this combination to the moon to support NASA's Artemis program, and eventually to Mars for human settlement efforts.

Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Elizabeth Howell
Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.