The massive SpaceX Starship rocket is ready to launch from the Texas base

SpaceX's massive next-generation rocket is scheduled to launch on a major test flight Thursday morning in an effort to demonstrate new technologies and techniques that will be crucial in future missions to the moon and beyond.

The upcoming launch will be the third and most ambitious test flight of the rocket, according to SpaceX. The event will be closely watched because the nearly 400-foot-long rocket, known as Starship, is expected to play an important role in NASA's program to return to the moon.

Starship will launch from SpaceX's Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas. The launch is expected to take place at 9:25 a.m. ET, but this timing is tentative and could change based on the condition of the rocket and weather at the launch site. The 110-minute launch window opened at 8 a.m. ET, but SpaceX adjusted the target liftoff time as it worked to move boats out of danger in the Gulf of Mexico.

SpaceX said early Thursday Weather conditions were 70% suitable for the test flight, but later added that the teams were monitoring the winds.

The start will be It was streamed live on SpaceX's website It starts around 8:50 a.m. ET.

With this flight, SpaceX hopes to demonstrate the spacecraft's ability to perform a controlled re-entry through Earth's atmosphere before landing in the Indian Ocean. Before that end, the test also includes several different targets than the rocket's previous two flights. SpaceX will attempt to fire one of the Starship's Raptor engines while in space, opening and closing the vehicle's payload door and transferring propellant between two of the Starship's tanks in orbit.

Many of these technologies could help SpaceX carry out future satellite deployment missions, as well as pave the way for lunar missions as part of NASA's Artemis program.

The spacecraft has been selected by NASA to transport astronauts to the lunar surface for the upcoming Artemis III mission, which could launch in 2026.

Starship's maiden flight last April was devastating, ending with the rocket exploding several minutes after liftoff. Starship's second launch in November achieved several milestones, including the separation of the first stage booster known as Super Heavy from the Starship upper stage spacecraft, but the company eventually lost contact with the vehicle.