SpaceX is poised to conduct a wet dress rehearsal of the Starship launch system from its Starbase site in southeastern Texas, a major milestone in CEO Elon Musk\u2019s quest to turn long-haul interplanetary transportation from science fiction to reality.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the strongest signal yet that Starship\u2019s first orbital flight test could well and truly be imminent. The wet dress is a critical series of prelaunch tests that includes propellant loading of both the upper stage and booster, and a run-through of countdown to around T-10 seconds, or just before engine ignition. If no major issues crop up during the testing, the next step would be \u201cde-stacking,\u201d or the separation of the Starship second stage and Super Heavy booster. That would be followed by a full static fire test, where engineers would light up all 33 of the booster\u2019s Raptor 2 engines. The launch system would then be re-stacked before the first orbital flight test.<\/p>\n