Watch SpaceX attempt to launch a Starship prototype rocket to 40,000 feet, the highest flight yet

Watch SpaceX attempt to launch a Starship prototype rocket to 40,000 feet, the highest flight yet

VIDEO[This livestream is scheduled to begin momentarily. Please refresh the page if you do not see the player above]SpaceX is preparing to launch the latest prototype of its next-generation Starship rocket on Tuesday, in a high-altitude flight that represents the company's most ambitious test to date.Starship prototype Serial Number 8, or SN8, will aim to fly as high as 12.5 kilometers, or about 41,000 feet, SpaceX confirmed to CNBC. That's significantly higher than the pair of 500-foot flight tests that SpaceX completed with prototypes SN5 and SN6 earlier this year.Notably, the goal of the SN8 flight is not necessarily to reach the maximum altitude, but rather to test several key parts of the Starship system."This suborbital flight is designed to test a number of objectives, from how the vehicle's three Raptor engines perform to the overall aerodynamic entry capabilities of the vehicle (including its body flaps) to how the vehicle manages propellant transition. SN8 will also attempt to perform a landing flip maneuver, which would be a first for a vehicle of this size," SpaceX said in a statement on its website.Given the multiple development milestones the company is undertaking with the SN8 flight, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave the