SpaceX Starship Test Flight Timeline

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SpaceX described the plan for the Starship orbital test. 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.

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.

A live webcast of the flight test will begin ~45 minutes before liftoff. As is the case with all developmental testing, this schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our social media channels for updates.

11 thoughts on “SpaceX Starship Test Flight Timeline”

  1. The fact that SpaceX is a private company and doing this is beyond astounding. If team Musk pulls this off on the first try it will send shockwaves around the world in more ways than one! My wife and I will be there to cheer StarShip, SpaceX and Elon Musk on.

  3. I’ve been watching the maturation of Starship since 2017 and it’s been so interesting and incredible! They’ll hover and “land” in the water and learn. It will definitely be exciting and historical. I’m on the edge of my seat and looking forward to it! 🚀

  4. So, no Starship orbital insertion burn? I guess, then, they’ve given up on using the first test to put some satellites in orbit, as had earlier been talked about.

    Also, I notice that the Starship is described as ending with a splashdown, but not the booster. Does this mean they intend to fly the booster back to Boca Chica and attempt to catch it?

    Ah, no, the middle graphic is a bit illegible above, but is clearer in SpaceX’s own presentation: Both end in a splashdown.

    That’s a shame, but understandable. Pity they’re going to lose so many engines, though.

    • True they will being doing a splashdown, although I read previously that they will terminate the flight with the craft using the same flight profile as they would for a Mechazilla catch. So sounds like they’re testing the calculations without risking a Mechazilla installation.

      IRT the loss of engines, after the lengthy development process for the first Starship launch, I have to speculate that the next batch of engines may have incorporated a number of lessons learned to make them more reliable and efficient. So they may not have seen much utility in saving this set for reuse.

      • My understanding is that both the booster and the second stage will do a hover over the water to simulate being caught by MechaZilla, but without the MechaZilla. This way, if they cannot stabilise the hover, it won’t endanger the ground equipment.

        I speculate that if they cannot stably hover with Booster 7 and Ship 24, they might do the same thing again with the next pair, and so on, until they are reasonably sure that they can actually do it before risking doing it with the actual tower.

        • This is similar to the testing regime of F9 which simulated soft landings at sea before trying it on land or an ASDS. They seem confident they can collect all the necessary data with this to skip the added expense of fitting either stage with legs and go straight to mechazilla capture after success at water simulation.

    • Knowing SpaceX those engines are probably obsolete and they want to move on to a newer version of the raptors. Just a guess.

    • It will be impressive if Starship-superheavy completed its first flight considering only 30% of first flight rockets succeed on their first flight.

      • IN fairness F1 failed twice for relatively simple reasons. F9 and F0H aced their maiden flights.
        SpaceX has had the fundamentals of rocket development down for some time now.

        I tell my kids that if it launches it will be a sight to see and if it explodes then it will also be a sight to see. Win-Win.

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