Coming off a successful flight test in August, SpaceX will try to continue Starship‘s redemption story with its next launch.
This time, Elon Musk‘s space company will attempt a new landing strategy for the booster and a more aggressive test of the ship’s heat shield, which protects it from the extreme heat while reentering Earth’s atmosphere. The last phase of the flight will also incorporate a new banking maneuver.
The upcoming Flight 11 test could happen as early as 6:15 p.m. CT on Monday from Starbase, Texas, SpaceX’s headquarters, which is also now an official city. Starship’s hourlong flight is expected to conclude with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Whether it can achieve that unscathed remains to be seen. SpaceX suffered a string of failures and mishaps earlier this year, including an explosion on the test stand in June.
Anyone can watch a livestream of the launch either on SpaceX’s website or on X.com, the social platform also owned by billionaire Musk. The broadcast will begin roughly 30 minutes before liftoff, but the exact time is subject to changes based on the rocket-fueling process and weather.
“Over the course of a flight test campaign, success will continue to be measured by what we are able to learn,” the company said.
NASA is counting on Starship, a 400-foot-tall, super-heavy-lift rocket and spaceship system, to put its first astronauts on the moon under a $4.2 billion contract. Though the U.S. space agency has its own rocket and spaceship, Starship is expected to ferry the crew from lunar orbit to the moon’s surface for the last leg of the journey.
That mission, Artemis III, will be the first human landing in a half-century and could happen as early as 2027, though development delays will likely cause the schedule to slip. SpaceX must first demonstrate it can refuel in space, and touch down on land — specifically, the moon’s cratered south pole region. So far, its prototypes have only plopped down in water on Earth.
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SpaceX conducts a static fire test of a previously used Super Heavy booster ahead of October’s Starship flight test.
Credit: SpaceX
Starship is also a passion project for Musk, who wants to eventually send humans to Mars and build a self-sustaining city on the Red Planet.
But how soon Starship can reach that level of safety and reliability is unclear. An explosion of a prototype on the ground this summer was a jarring image — and a sign that the vehicle is far from ready for people. SpaceX said the accident stemmed from a damaged high-pressure nitrogen tank, which caused the rocket to break apart and catch fire. No one was hurt, but the incident didn’t help public opinion of the rocket’s readiness for human spaceflight.
SpaceX’s last Starship test lifted off smoothly on Aug. 26. The booster completed a controlled descent back toward Earth and had a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, while the upper stage reached space. The ship then performed a payload demonstration, releasing eight mock Starlink satellites from a giant Pez-like dispenser. It then restarted one of its engines mid-flight.
During reentry, Starship’s heat shield and body were deliberately pushed to their limits before performing a controlled landing in the Indian Ocean.
“We probably gave it a little bit of extra time in the oven,” said Dan Huot, a SpaceX spokesperson and launch commentator.
SpaceX has new goals and maneuvers for Starship’s hourlong flight test.
Credit: SpaceX infographic
This upcoming test will expand on what the company learned from Flight 10, according to the company. The booster, which is being recycled from a previous flight, will use 24 Raptor engines and test a new way of landing at sea. Instead of returning to the launch pad, it will plunge into the Gulf of Mexico.
During its descent, the booster will attempt to switch between different groups of engines to see how the rocket behaves. SpaceX says this data will help engineers prepare for future boosters that may use more engines for safety and precision.
The ship will again release eight dummy satellites and try to restart one of its engines while coasting in space. Then, as the ship returns, SpaceX will see how it weathers the stress and friction of reentry by removing some heat-protection tiles.
The ship will perform a series of controlled turns to practice how future missions could steer back toward the launch site, according to SpaceX. If all goes to plan, it will splash down in the Indian Ocean.
