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By the Numbers

With its forthcoming Starship flight test, SpaceX is planning to showcase its reusability — and as an incredibly detailed new infographic shows, those plans are ambitious, to say the least.

Planned for no earlier than June 5 and pending regulatory approval, the fourth flight test of the world's most powerful rocket will, as the Elon Musk-owned company explained on its website, turn the world's focus from "achieving orbit to demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy."

As perfectly illustrated (full size) by infographic artists Lunar Caveman and Tony Bela — who, as far as we can tell, aren't employed by SpaceX — a lot of things need to go right for the company, from stage separation to splash down in the Indian Ocean.

It's the perfect overview of a highly ambitious plan that may or may not pan out for SpaceX — but we've got our fingers crossed.

Starship Step by Step

Along the way, as the artists illustrated in pristine detail, the Super Heavy booster's hot ring will jettison off and Starship will, if everything goes right this time, c0ast above the Atlantic and the southern part of the African continent before beginning its descent back down to Earth.

SpaceX is hoping to glean new insights from the booster's trajectory to figure out how to "catch" it during future launch attempts. The ruins from this flight test's Starship rocket, however, will sink to the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

Along with the version featuring incredibly detailed written descriptions, Bela and Caveman also released a gorgeous desktop wallpaper version with less text.

"What I love about a good infographic is its ability to tell the story without words," Bela tweeted. "I normally provide my infographics with and without text, both have their merits."

Beyond this beautiful and educational graphic, the pair have also released several others detailing everything from Boeing's Starliner crewed launch test, which is slated to blast off this weekend, to the plans for the private space company Vast's proposed space station slated to launch next year.

While all orbital attempts of SpaceX's Starship have resulted in massive explosions, the company has a chance to set a new record with its gigantic reusable spacecraft. And we'll be watching with bated breath.

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