An important pair of space launches to take place next week – Here’s how to watch both

Space might be the final frontier but that doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way. Both Boeing and SpaceX have important launches pending and both take place in the first week of June this year. First, Boeing’s problem-plagued Starliner will carry human passengers into space. Next, the Starliner rocket will make another attempt at a successful orbit of the planet.

Of the two launches, SpaceX’s Starliner will be the most visually impressive but since there are human passengers aboard Starliner for the first time, that’s the one to watch. It’ll lift off from 1 June this year, though there’s always room for further delays when lives are at stake.

Starliner’s shot at space

If you’re keen on seeing what happens when Boeing sends a crewed Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) on 1 June, you can catch coverage of the launch and the subsequent mission on NASA TV Live. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be on board the capsule as it travels to the ISS.

Dedicated watchers can tune in from 17h15 (local time) on 1 June to catch the buildup to the expected 21h15 (again, local time) launch of the Starliner. The launch vehicle is a United Launch Alliance Atlas V. Assuming all goes as planned, the Starliner will enter service as a transport vehicle to the International Space Station.

Starship go boom

SpaceX’s Starship, due to attempt liftoff again on 5 June, will be the more visually impressive of the two launches. The stakes are lower in that there is no mission payload and pretty much everyone is expecting an explosion at some point.

If you’re keen on watching the largest rocket in operation as it attempts to lift a monster spacecraft into orbit, you’ll have a couple of choices. One is directly on the SpaceX website, though it’ll probably also feature on YouTube. There’s an additional avenue, of course. Social media platform X will also host the live stream, because what’s the point of Elon Musk owning both if he can’t use the one to give the other a nudge every so often?

The 5 June launch is still awaiting regulator approval so there’s actually no launch time set as yet. We’ll update this post when that information becomes available. In the meantime, check out the mission details for Starship Launch 4. The ‘nice to have’ portion of the mission is a controlled re-entry of the launch vehicle and then having Starship itself, which is expected to splash down in the Indian Ocean shortly after the mission starts, last until it crashes into the ocean.