SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship on its 13th flight test as early as Thursday, aiming to correct problems from the previous mission while carrying a new generation of Starlink satellites for the first time.
A new launch window opens
The 90 minute launch window at Starbase in Cameron County, Texas, opens at 5:45 p.m. local time Thursday, translating to the early hours of Friday for viewers in India and other time zones well ahead of the U.S. As with all developmental testing, SpaceX has cautioned the schedule remains dynamic and could shift. A live webcast is set to begin roughly 30 minutes before liftoff on the company’s website and its X account. Local authorities are coordinating a safety perimeter around the launch site, including temporary closures of a nearby highway and beach area during the test window.
Fixing what went wrong last time
This flight repeats several objectives the previous mission failed to complete. On Flight 12, slight differences in engine startup caused the Super Heavy booster’s directional flip after separation to be off by roughly 90 degrees, throwing off its planned trajectory. Five of the booster’s 33 engines also struggled to reignite during the boostback burn, cutting that maneuver short. Separately, the Starship upper stage lost one of its three vacuum optimized Raptor engines about 40 seconds after separation, though the vehicle still managed to demonstrate engine out capability and reach its intended suborbital path. SpaceX says it has made hardware and software changes to both vehicles aimed at improving engine reliability and startup timing for this flight.
A first for the next generation of Starlink
For the first time, Starship will carry the newer Starlink V3 satellites, designed to significantly expand the network’s capacity and speed for users on the ground. The plan calls for deploying 20 of these satellites during the flight, after which they will unfurl solar arrays and antennas and attempt to link into the broader Starlink constellation using high capacity laser connections. Six of the satellites carry an additional job, using onboard cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield tiles and send imagery back to engineers studying how the shield holds up during flight, part of an ongoing effort to eventually reuse Starship vehicles without extensive refurbishment.
Testing the vehicle’s heat shield further
Beyond the satellite deployment, SpaceX plans several experiments tied to Starship’s heat shield during this flight. Some tiles have been deliberately painted white to simulate missing coverage, giving the satellite mounted cameras clear targets to track. Engineers have also attached experimental tiles using different mounting methods along the vehicle’s aft flaps and skirt to gather data on which attachment approach performs best. New sensors built into some tiles will measure the physical loads placed on them, since this flight is expected to expose the vehicle to higher aerodynamic pressure during ascent than earlier tests, a tradeoff that could allow Starship to carry more payload to orbit in the future.
What a successful flight looks like
If the mission goes as planned, the Super Heavy booster will separate from Starship roughly two minutes after liftoff, attempt its boostback burn, and come down for a landing at an offshore site. The Starship upper stage will continue on, deploying its satellite payload, briefly relighting a single engine while in space, and eventually reentering the atmosphere for a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean, capping a flight timeline that runs a little over an hour from liftoff to splashdown.
Part of a broader development push
Flight 13 is the latest step in SpaceX’s rapid iteration approach to developing Starship, a strategy built around frequent test flights that gather data even when individual objectives are not fully met. The vehicle is central to the company’s long term ambitions, including missions to the moon and eventually Mars, making each flight’s outcome closely watched both for what succeeds and for what still needs fixing.
