SpaceX Starship flight tests

SpaceX Starship flight tests include eleven launches of prototypes of the Starship spacecraft on suborbital and low-altitude tests, and two orbital trajectory flights of the entire Starship launch vehicle with the Starship prototype atop the Super Heavy first-stage booster.[a][1][2][3][4][5] Designed and operated by private manufacturer SpaceX, the flown prototypes of Starship so far are Starhopper, SN5, SN6, SN8, SN9, SN10, SN11, SN15, S24/B7, and S25/B9.[6][7]

Starship is planned to be a fully-reusable two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle.[8] Unusual for previous launch vehicle and spacecraft designs, the upper stage of Starship is intended to function both as a second stage to reach orbital velocity on launches from Earth, and also eventually[9] be used in outer space as an on-orbit long-duration spacecraft. It is being designed to take people to Mars and beyond into the Solar System.[10]

Vehicle testing

Starship prototype tests can generally be classified into three main types. In proof pressure tests, the vehicle's tanks are pressurized with either gases or liquids to test their strength—sometimes deliberately until they burst. SpaceX loads the vehicle prototype with propellant and briefly fires its engines in a static fire test.[11] Before a test flight, the vehcile performs mission rehearsals, with or without fuel, to check the vehicle and ground infrastructure. Alternatively, the engines' turbopump spinning can be tested without firing the engines, referred to as a spin prime test.[12]

Following successful testing, uncrewed flight tests and launches may take place. During a suborbital launch, Starship prototypes fly to a high altitude and then descend, landing either near the launch site or in the sea. During an orbital launch, Starship performs procedures as described in its mission profile.[11]: 19–22  The tests, flights, and launches of the Starship rocket have received significant media coverage due to SpaceX's relatively open approach to allowing outsiders to view the facilities.[13]

Suborbital campaign (2019–2021)

Launch outcomes

1
2
3
4
2019
2020
2021
  •   Success (tethered)
  •   Success (untethered)

Landing outcomes

1
2
3
4
2019
2020
2021
  •   Loss before landing
  •   Loss on landing
  •   Loss after landing
  •   Success (tethered)
  •   Success (untethered)
Flight
No. 		Date and time
(UTC) 		Vehicles Launch site[b] Flight apogee Duration Launch outcome Landing outcome
- 3 April 2019 Starhopper Suborbital Launch Site <0.3 m (1 ft) ~3 seconds Success No attempt
The first firing of Starhopper and the first tethered hop (according to Musk[14][15]). The burn was a few seconds in duration and the vehicle was tethered to the ground. The vehicle may have lifted off the ground, but only to a very small height, and it was not possible to see the lift off in public video recordings of the test.[15][16]
- 5 April 2019 Starhopper Suborbital Launch Site 1 m (3.3 ft) ~5 seconds Success No attempt
Tethered hop which hit tether limits.[1]
1 25 July 2019[17] Starhopper Suborbital Launch Site 20 m (65.6 ft)[2] ~22 seconds Success Success
First free (untethered) flight test.
2 27 August 2019, 22:00[3][18] Starhopper Suborbital Launch Site 150 m (492 ft)[3] ~1 minute[19] Success Success
Starhopper was retired after this launch and used as a water tank at the production site.[3][20][21]
3 4 August 2020, 23:57[22][23] SN5 Suborbital Pad A 150 m (492 ft)[22] ~45 seconds Success Success
Second 150-meter hop, and first hop of a full Starship prototype.[4][24]
4 3 September 2020, 17:47[25] SN6 Suborbital Pad A 150 m (492 ft)[26] ~45 seconds Success Success
Third 150-meter hop, and second hop of a full Starship prototype.[25]
5 9 December 2020,[27] 22:45 SN8 Suborbital Pad A 12.5 km (41,000 ft)[28] 6 minutes, 42 seconds Success Failure
First high-altitude flight test. Vehicle successfully launched, ascended, performed the skydive descent maneuver, relit the engines fueled from header tanks, and steered to the landing pad.[28][29] The flip maneuver from horizontal descent to vertical was successful, but a sudden pressure loss in the methane header tank caused by the flip maneuver reduced fuel supply and thrust, resulting in a hard landing and explosion.[28]
6 2 February 2021,[30] 20:25 SN9 Suborbital Pad B 10 km (32,800 ft)[31][30][32] 6 minutes, 26 seconds[32] Success Failure
A Raptor failed to start due to a problem with its oxygen preburner,[citation needed] causing SN9 to over-rotate and hit the landing pad. Vehicle destroyed on impact.[32][33][34][35]
7 3 March 2021,[36][37] 23:15 SN10 Suborbital Pad A 10 km (32,800 ft)[38] 6 minutes, 24 seconds[39][c] Success Partial failure
SN10 experienced a hard landing with a slight lean after the landing and a fire near the base of the rocket,[42] and then exploded eight minutes after landing.[undue weight? – discuss][38] Insufficient deacceleration was possibly due to helium ingestion from the fuel header tank.[40]
8 30 March 2021, 13:00[43] SN11 Suborbital Pad B 10 km (32,800 ft)[44] ~6 minutes[43] Success Failure
SN11 had engine issues during ascent (according to Elon Musk).[45] Vehicle lost before T+6:00.[46][47] Musk stated that a "relatively small" methane leak caused a fire on one of the Raptor engines during ascent, causing the engine to experience a hard start when relit.[48]
9 5 May 2021, 22:24[49] SN15 Suborbital Pad A 10 km (32,800 ft)[50] 5 minutes, 59 seconds Success Success
SN15 was a new iteration of prototype Starship with many upgrades over previous vehicles.[51] SN15 achieved a soft landing, with a small fire starting near the base shortly after landing. The post-flight fire was out within 20 minutes, and SN15 was retired by the end of the month and scrapped in July 2023.[52][53]


Orbital campaign (2023–)

The first orbital flight test of Starship took place on 20 April 2023 and ended in the destruction of the vehicle four minutes into the flight over the designated hazard area in the Gulf of Mexico. Following the second integrated flight test of Starship on 18 November 2023, Elon Musk tweeted that the "Starship Flight 3 hardware should be ready to fly in 3 to 4 weeks".[54]

Launch sites

2
2023
2024
2025

Launch outcomes

2
4
2023
2024
2025
  •   Loss on launchpad
  •   Loss before staging
  •   Loss after staging
  •   Partial Failure
  •   Success
  •   Planned

Booster landing outcomes

1
2
2023
2024
2025
  •   Precluded
  •   Loss before landing
  •   Loss on landing
  •   Partial Failure
  •   Success (splashdown)
  •   Success (landing)

Spacecraft landing outcomes

2
2023
2024
2025
  •   Precluded
  •   Loss before landing
  •   Loss on landing
  •   Partial Failure
  •   Success (splashdown)
  •   Success (landing)
Flight Date and time
(UTC) 		Vehicles Launch site[d] Orbit Duration Launch outcome Booster landing Spacecraft landing
IFT-1 20 April 2023, 13:33:09 S24/B7 Starbase Orbital Pad Transatmospheric[55] 3 minutes, 59 seconds (until vehicle loss) Failure (SpaceX declared success) Precluded Precluded
The first Starship Integrated Flight Test was the first flight of the full launch vehicle with both Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage integrated. The booster was planned to make a powered splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, and the ship was intended to enter a transatmospheric Earth orbit before reentering and impacting the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii. Liftoff resulted in extensive damage to the orbital launch mount and the infrastructures around it, including the tank farm. Three engines failed on the booster during liftoff, with at least three more engines shutting down during the flight. The vehicle eventually entered an uncontrolled spin before stage separation due to loss of thrust vector control. The flight termination system detonated with the intent to destroy the vehicle immediately, but the vehicle remained intact until T+3:59, more than 40 seconds after activation of the flight termination system.[56] SpaceX declared this flight a success because it expected the rocket to only clear the launch pad.[57]
IFT-2 18 November 2023, 13:02:51[58][59] S25/B9[60][61] Starbase Orbital Pad Transatmospheric ~8 minutes (until vehicle loss) Failure (SpaceX declared success) Failure Precluded
The second integrated flight test of Starship had a flight profile similar to the first flight, with the addition of hot staging and a water deluge system on the launch pad. During the first stage firing, all 33 engines were fired full duration. Starship and Super Heavy passed through hot staging, but the booster was lost shortly after initiating its flip maneuver and boostback burn. The Starship second stage had its flight termination system activated around the time of engine cutoff, after having continued powered flight until more than eight minutes after launch and reaching over 80 percent of orbital speed.[62] The failure of the second stage was due to venting excess liquid oxygen, resulting in a fire and explosion.[63]

Upcoming flights

Flight Date and time

(UTC)

Vehicle Launch site Orbit Booster landing Spacecraft landing
IFT-3 NET February 2024[64][65] S28/B10[66][67] Starbase Orbital Pad LEO[68] Planned Planned
The third flight of Starship will involve an internal propellant transfer demonstration,[69] as well as a deorbit burn and a test of the Starlink dispenser.[68]
IFT-4 NET 2024 Unknown/B11[70] Starbase Orbital Pad Unknown Planned Unknown
As of February 2024, the flight profile for IFT-4 is unknown.
IFT-5 NET 2024 Unknown/B12[70] Starbase Orbital Pad Unknown Planned Unknown
As of February 2024, the flight profile for IFT-5 is unknown.
IFT-6 NET 2024 Unknown/B13[70] Starbase Orbital Pad Unknown Planned Unknown
As of February 2024, the flight profile for IFT-6 is unknown.

Future operational flights

SpaceX has on various occasions made a few public statements about preliminary ideas for future operational orbital flights using the Starship system. All dates for future flights are speculative, and therefore approximate and "no earlier than" (NET) dates. Moreover, it is difficult to compare the dates in the tables since they have come from different sources and at different times over the past three years.

Elon Musk has stated that Starship would fly hundreds of times before launching with humans.[9] A likely use of some of these flights would be to launch Starlink satellites.[71]

Date Vehicle Mission Notes
NET 2025[72] Starship HLS HLS Demo NASA demonstration mission for the Human Landing System prior to Artemis 3, announced in April 2021.[73] Includes refueling and landing vehicles.
Starship Cargo (refueling)
NET 2026 Starship HLS Artemis 3 Human Landing System vehicle for Artemis Program. Date is dependent on many NASA Artemis program and SpaceX Starship development contingencies.
Starship Cargo (refueling)
NET Mid 2026 Starship Cargo Astrolab FLEX rover mission[74] Could be a rideshare. Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover will include 1,000 kilograms of customer payloads.
NET 2026 Starship Cargo Unnamed As of 2023, this was mentioned as the earliest potential cargo flight to Mars.[75]
2027[76] Starship Cargo Superbird-9 Superbird-9 is a SKY Perfect JSAT's fully flexible HTS (High Throughput Satellites) mounted the payload missions to be configured and combined to match end-user needs. The satellite will be based on Airbus' standardised OneSat product line. Superbird-9 will be launched by SpaceX's Starship launch vehicle in 2027 to geosynchronous transfer orbit.[77][78]
NET 2028 Starship HLS Unnamed On November 15, 2022, NASA announced it had awarded a contract to SpaceX as part of Option B of the Appendix H contract. This would allow SpaceX to use a second-generation Starship HLS design to conduct a Lunar Gateway-based demonstration mission as part of Artemis 4.[79]
NET 2028[80] Starship Cargo Starlab Starship was selected to launch the Starlab space station to LEO before the decommissioning of the ISS.[81]
NET 2029 Starship Crew
(Heart of Gold[82]) 		Unnamed As of March 2022, 2029 was mentioned as the earliest potential crewed flight to Mars.[83]
TBD Starship Crew Third Polaris Program Flight On behalf of Jared Isaacman, last flight of the Polaris Program and first crewed mission of Starship.[84][e]
TBD Starship Crew dearMoon The dearMoon project was announced in 2018, with the goal of a crewed flyby loop around the Moon.[85][86]
TBD Starship Crew Unnamed As of 2022, Dennis and Akiko Tito are the first two crewmembers announced on Starship's second commercial spaceflight around the Moon. This will be Dennis' second mission to space after becoming the first commercial astronaut to visit the International Space Station in 2001, and Akiko will be among the first women to fly around the Moon on a Starship. The Titos joined the mission to contribute to SpaceX's long-term goal to advance human spaceflight and help make life multiplanetary.

Over the course of a week, Starship and the crew will travel to the Moon, fly within 200 km of the Moon's surface, and complete a full journey around the Moon before safely returning to Earth. Ten other seats on Starship remain unsold and are available. Tito said he was not at liberty to disclose the price he paid.[87]

Other flights

The HLS variant of Starship was selected by NASA in April 2021 to be the lander for the Artemis missions to the Moon. Artemis 3 is intended to be the first human mission to the Moon to use Starship for long-duration crewed lunar landings as part of the Artemis program.

According to space journalist Mike Wall in 2020, and as part of SpaceX's Mars ambitions, Musk is said to envision that eventually more than 1,000 Starships could be needed to depart for Mars every 26 months, which could lead to the development of a sustainable Martian city in 50–100 years.[88]

Notes

  1. ^ Not including tethered, short hops of Starhopper on 3 and 5 April 2019.
  2. ^ All launches are from the same Boca Chica site. SpaceX started calling this Starbase from March 2021 after discussions called a "casual inquiry". See Boca Chica (Texas) § Starbase
  3. ^ Despite making an intact landing and beginning the detanking procedures, the vehicle suffered an explosion several minutes later destroying the vehicle in the process. SpaceX called it a successful landing but later acknowledged a problem with lower-than-expected engine thrust causing a hard landing[40] way past leg loads[41] and the vehicle exploded.[37]
  4. ^ All launches are from the same Boca Chica site. SpaceX started calling this Starbase from March 2021 after discussions called a "casual inquiry". See Boca Chica (Texas) § Starbase
  5. ^ The first (Polaris Dawn) and second mission of this program will be launched with Crew Dragon.

See also

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