posted 09-29-2019 08:45 AM               

Elon Musk debuts SpaceX's first Starship, aims for orbit in six months

Eleven years to the day after SpaceX's first successful rocket launch, founder and CEO Elon Musk debuted the company's first Starship, a colossal, steel-constructed spacecraft designed to fly crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the moon, Mars and "anywhere else" in the solar system.

Speaking to an audience gathered at SpaceX's Boca Chica launch site, located just north of the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, Musk stood before the towering Starship and an example of his much more diminutive first rocket to reach orbit, the Falcon 1.

"This is, I think, the most inspiring thing I have ever seen," said Musk on Saturday (Sept. 28), admiring the 165-foot-tall (80-meter) Starship as it was lit by spotlights.

posted 12-07-2020 01:41 PM               

Starship High-Altitude Flight Test

As early as Wednesday, December 9, the SpaceX team will make the first attempt of a high-altitude suborbital flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8) from our site in Cameron County, Texas. The schedule is dynamic and likely to change, as is the case with all development testing.

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.

With a test such as this, success is not measured by completion of specific objectives but rather how much we can learn, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship.

This past year alone, SpaceX has completed two low-altitude flight tests with Starship SN5 and SN6 and accumulated over 16,000 seconds of run time during 330 ground engine starts, including multiple Starship static fires and four flight tests of the reusable methalox full-flow staged combustion Raptor engine. Additionally, with production accelerating and fidelity increasing, SpaceX has built 10 Starship prototypes. SN9 is almost ready to move to the pad, which now has two active stands for rapid development testing.

SN8’s flight test is an exciting next step in the development of a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. As we venture into new territory, we continue to appreciate all of the support and encouragement we have received.

There will be a live feed of the flight test available here that will start a few minutes prior to liftoff. Given the uncertainty of the schedule, stay tuned to our social media channels for updates as we move toward our first high-altitude flight test of Starship!

posted 12-09-2020 09:25 PM               

SpaceX Starship SN8 soars on first high-altitude test, explodes on landing

A prototype for a commercial moon and Mars lander flew a successful high-altitude test flight, up until it went to land, when it slammed into the ground and exploded in a tremendous fireball.

The SpaceX Starship spacecraft (serial no. 8 or SN8) lifted off on its first suborbital flight on Wednesday (Dec. 9) from the company's Boca Chica launch site in South Texas. The six-minute and 42-second "epic" flight was deemed an overall success by SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

posted 01-27-2021 08:53 PM               

Starship SN9 High-Altitude Flight Test

As early as Tuesday, February 2, the SpaceX team will attempt a high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 9 (SN9) – the second high-altitude suborbital flight test of a Starship prototype from our site in Cameron County, Texas.

Similar to the high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8), SN9 will be powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude. SN9 will perform a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.

The Starship prototype will descend under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by independent movement of two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle. All four flaps are actuated by an onboard flight computer to control Starship's attitude during flight and enable precise landing at the intended location. SN9's Raptor engines will then reignite as the vehicle attempts a landing flip maneuver immediately before touching down on the landing pad adjacent to the launch mount.

A controlled aerodynamic descent with body flaps and vertical landing capability, combined with in-space refilling, are critical to landing Starship at destinations across the solar system where prepared surfaces or runways do not exist, and returning to Earth. This capability will enable a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration, interplanetary flights and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.

There will be a live feed of the flight test that will start a few minutes prior to liftoff. Given the dynamic schedule of development testing, stay tuned to our social media channels for updates as we move toward SpaceX's second high-altitude flight test of Starship!

posted 02-03-2021 08:38 AM               

Completed test: Starship SN9

On Tuesday, February 2, Starship serial number 9 (SN9) completed SpaceX's second high-altitude flight test of a Starship prototype from our site in Cameron County, Texas.

Similar to the high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 8 (SN8), SN9 was powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 kilometers in altitude. SN9 successfully performed a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.

The Starship prototype descended under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by independent movement of two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle. All four flaps are actuated by an onboard flight computer to control Starship's attitude during flight and enable precise landing at the intended location. During the landing flip maneuver, one of the Raptor engines did not relight and caused SN9 to land at high speed and experience a RUD.

These test flights are all about improving our understanding and development of a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration, interplanetary flights and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.

posted 03-03-2021 03:55 AM               

Starship SN10 High-Altitude Flight Test

As early as Wednesday, March 3, the SpaceX team will attempt a high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 10 (SN10) – our third high-altitude suborbital flight test of a Starship prototype from SpaceX's site in Cameron County, Texas.

Similar to the high-altitude flight tests of Starship SN8 and SN9, SN10 will be powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude. SN10 will perform a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.

The Starship prototype will descend under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by independent movement of two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle. All four flaps are actuated by an onboard flight computer to control Starship's attitude during flight and enable precise landing at the intended location. SN10's Raptor engines will then reignite as the vehicle attempts a landing flip maneuver immediately before touching down on the landing pad adjacent to the launch mount.

A controlled aerodynamic descent with body flaps and vertical landing capability, combined with in-space refilling, are critical to landing Starship at destinations across the solar system where prepared surfaces or runways do not exist, and returning to Earth. This capability will enable a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration, interplanetary flights and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.

posted 03-04-2021 03:42 AM               

Starship SN10 High-Altitude Flight Test

On Wednesday, March 3, Starship serial number (SN10) successfully completed SpaceX's third high-altitude flight test of a Starship prototype from our site in Cameron County, Texas.

Similar to the high-altitude flight tests of Starship SN8 and SN9, SN10 was powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude. SN10 performed a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.

The Starship prototype descended under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by independent movement of two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle. All four flaps were actuated by an onboard flight computer to control Starship's attitude during flight and enabled a precise landing at the intended location. SN10's Raptor engines reignited as the vehicle performed the landing flip maneuver immediately before successfully touching down on the landing pad!

As if the flight test was not exciting enough, SN10 experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly shortly after landing. All in all a great day for the Starship teams – these test flights are all about improving our understanding and development of a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration interplanetary flights, and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.

Congratulations to the entire Starship and SpaceX teams on the flight test!

posted 03-26-2021 12:56 PM               

Starship SN11 High-Altitude Flight Test

As early as Friday, March 26, the SpaceX team will attempt a high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 11 (SN11) — our fourth high-altitude flight test of a Starship prototype from Starbase in Texas.

Similar to previous high-altitude flight tests of Starship, SN11 will be powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee — approximately 10 km in altitude. SN11 will perform a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.

The Starship prototype will descend under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by independent movement of two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle. All four flaps are actuated by an onboard flight computer to control Starship’s attitude during flight and enable precise landing at the intended location. SN11’s Raptor engines will then reignite as the vehicle attempts a landing flip maneuver immediately before touching down on the landing pad adjacent to the launch mount.

A controlled aerodynamic descent with body flaps and vertical landing capability, combined with in-space refilling, are critical to landing Starship at destinations across the solar system where prepared surfaces or runways do not exist, and returning to Earth. This capability will enable a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration, interplanetary flights and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.

posted 03-31-2021 10:33 AM               

Starship SN11 High-Altitude Flight Test

On Tuesday, March 30, SpaceX launched its fourth high-altitude flight test of Starship from Starbase in Texas. Similar to previous high-altitude flight tests, Starship Serial Number 11 (SN11) was powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude. SN11 performed a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.

Shortly after the landing burn started, SN11 experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test.

Test flights are all about improving our understanding and development of a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration interplanetary flights, and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.

posted 05-06-2021 10:29 AM               

Starship SN15 Flight Test

On Wednesday, May 5, Starship serial number 15 (SN15) successfully completed SpaceX's fifth high-altitude flight test of a Starship prototype from Starbase in Texas.

Similar to previous high-altitude flight tests of Starship, SN15 was powered through ascent by three Raptor engines, each shutting down in sequence prior to the vehicle reaching apogee – approximately 10 km in altitude. SN15 performed a propellant transition to the internal header tanks, which hold landing propellant, before reorienting itself for reentry and a controlled aerodynamic descent.

The Starship prototype descended under active aerodynamic control, accomplished by independent movement of two forward and two aft flaps on the vehicle. All four flaps were actuated by an onboard flight computer to control Starship's attitude during flight and enabled precise landing at the intended location. SN15's Raptor engines reignited as the vehicle performed the landing flip maneuver immediately before touching down for a nominal landing on the pad.

These test flights of Starship are all about improving our understanding and development of a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo on long-duration interplanetary flights, and help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond.

Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on SN15's successful flight and landing!

posted 06-13-2022 01:16 PM               

FAA Requires SpaceX to Take Over 75 Actions to Mitigate Environmental Impact of Planned Starship/Super Heavy Launches

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will require SpaceX to take more than 75 actions to mitigate environmental impacts from its proposed plan to launch the Starship/Super Heavy vehicle from Boca Chica, Texas.

The actions are part of the agency's environmental review. The environmental review must be completed along with public safety, national security, and other analyses before a decision on whether to grant a launch license can be made. The license application is still pending.

After consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there will be more advanced notice of launches to reduce how long State Highway 4 is closed during launch operations. The highway traverses Boca Chica Beach, Texas State Parks and the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge. Closures will not be allowed on 18 identified holidays, and weekend restrictions are limited to no more than five weekends per year, ensuring robust access to the refuge and park throughout the calendar year. The FAA will also require real-time notifications when access restrictions begin, end or are cancelled.

Additional measures to address impacts to fish, wildlife and plants, and resources protected by the National Historic Preservation Act will be required. Some examples of these measures include:

• Ongoing monitoring of vegetation and wildlife by a qualified biologist;

• Ensuring notification of surrounding communities in advance about potential engine noise and sonic booms from launches;

• Coordinating with state or federal agencies to remove launch debris from sensitive habitats;

• Adjusting lighting at the launch complex to minimize impact on wildlife and the nearby beach.

The required actions are part of the FAA's Programmatic Environmental Assessment, Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), and Record of Decision (ROD). The documents are available at The SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Project at the Boca Chica Launch Site page.

The environmental review is one part of the FAA Launch Operator License application process. SpaceX also must meet FAA safety, risk, and financial responsibility requirements before a license is issued for any launch activities. The review was completed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and all applicable laws, regulations, and agency guidance.

posted 04-11-2023 03:55 PM               

Starship Flight Test

The first integrated flight test of Starship is trending towards the third week of April, pending regulatory approval.

This will be the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket, a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and travel to Mars and beyond. With a test such as this, success is measured by how much we can learn, which will inform and improve the probability of success in the future as SpaceX rapidly advances development of Starship.

To date, the SpaceX team has completed multiple sub-orbital flight tests of Starship's upper stage from Starbase, successfully demonstrating an unprecedented approach to controlled flight. These flight tests helped validate the vehicle's design, proving Starship can fly through the subsonic phase of entry before re-lighting its engines and flipping itself to a vertical configuration for landing.

In addition to the testing of Starship's upper stage, the team has conducted numerous tests of the Super Heavy rocket, which include the increasingly complex static fires that led to a full-duration 31 Raptor engine test – the largest number of simultaneous rocket engine ignitions in history. The team has also constructed the world's tallest rocket launch and catch tower. At 146 meters, or nearly 500 feet tall, the launch and catch tower is designed to support vehicle integration, launch, and catch of the Super Heavy rocket booster. For the first flight test, the team will not attempt a vertical landing of Starship or a catch of the Super Heavy booster.

As we venture into new territory, we continue to appreciate all of the support and encouragement we have received from those who share our vision of a future where humanity is out exploring among the stars!

posted 04-20-2023 09:45 AM               

SpaceX launches Starship rocket on first test flight, explodes mid-air

Lifting off on its first fully-integrated test flight, a SpaceX rocket has become the largest and most-powerful launch vehicle to leave the ground — even with it breaking apart and exploding just four minutes into its flight.

After a brief hold at T-40 seconds to make last minute pressurization checks, the company's Super Heavy booster ignited its 30 out of its 33 methane-fueled Raptor rocket engines at 8:33 a.m. CDT (1333 GMT) Thursday (April 20), lifting it and its Starship vehicle off its mount at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The launch was the first flight of the Super Heavy and Starship as used together.

The Super Heavy and Starship reached "Max Q," the moment of peak mechanical stress on the vehicle, about a minute and 20 seconds into flight, with two more of its engines having shut off early. Almost a minute and a half later, the Super Heavy was to cut off its engines and drop away from Starship, but the separation did not occur. Instead, the entire vehicle began to tumble, leading to the flight termination system being commanded for both Starship and Super Heavy.

posted 11-03-2023 04:02 PM               

Starship's Second Flight Test

The second flight test of a fully integrated Starship could launch as soon as Nov. 18.

Starship's first flight test provided numerous lessons learned that directly contributed to several upgrades to both the vehicle and ground infrastructure to improve the probability of success on future flights. The second flight test will debut a hot-stage separation system and a new electronic Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system for Super Heavy Raptor engines, in addition to reinforcements to the pad foundation and a water-cooled steel flame deflector, among many other enhancements.

This rapid iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX's major innovative advancements, including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink. Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and ultimately travel to Mars and beyond.

posted 11-18-2023 09:19 AM               

SpaceX Starship reaches space on second test flight, but then is lost

The world's largest and most powerful rocket to leave the ground flew a mostly-successful test flight on what was only its second launch.

SpaceX ignited the 33 engines at the base of its integrated Starship and Super Heavy vehicle on Saturday (Nov. 18), seven months after its first test flight ended just four minutes into flight. This time, the launch at 7:02 a.m. CST (8:02 a.m. EST or 1302 GMT) from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, continued beyond stage separation, with Starship almost reaching its near-orbital velocity.

posted 11-21-2023 09:34 AM               

Starship's Second Flight Test

Starship returned to integrated flight testing with its second launch from Starbase in Texas. While it didn't happen in a lab or on a test stand, it was absolutely a test. What we did with this second flight will provide invaluable data to continue rapidly developing Starship.

On November 18, 2023, Starship successfully lifted off at 7:02 a.m. CT from Starbase in Texas and achieved a number of major milestones:

• All 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy Booster started up successfully and, for the first time, completed a full-duration burn during ascent.

• Starship executed a successful hot-stage separation, powering down all but three of Super Heavy's Raptor engines and successfully igniting the six second stage Raptor engines before separating the vehicles. This was the first time this technique has been done successfully with a vehicle of this size.

• Following separation, the Super Heavy booster successfully completed its flip maneuver and initiated the boostback burn before it experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. The vehicle breakup occurred more than three and a half minutes into the flight at an altitude of ~90 km over the Gulf of Mexico.

• Starship's six second stage Raptor engines all started successfully and powered the vehicle to an altitude of ~150 km and a velocity of ~24,000 km/h, becoming the first Starship to reach outer space and nearly completing its full-duration burn.

• The flight test's conclusion came when telemetry was lost near the end of second stage burn prior to engine cutoff after more than eight minutes of flight. The team verified a safe command destruct was appropriately triggered based on available vehicle performance data.

• The water-cooled flame deflector and other pad upgrades performed as expected, requiring minimal post-launch work to be ready for upcoming vehicle tests and the next integrated flight test.

With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and this flight test will help us improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary. Data review is ongoing as we look for improvements to make for the next flight. The team at Starbase is already working final preparations on the vehicles slated for use in Starship's third flight test, with Ship and Booster static fires coming up next.

Thank you to our customers, Cameron County, spaceflight fans, and the wider community for the continued support and encouragement. And congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting second flight test of Starship!