Thursday, May 15 2025 | Time 21:21 Hrs(IST)
WorldPosted at: May 15 2025 2:25PM


Space X to launch ninth test flight of Starship by next week, says Elon Musk

Hawthorne, May 15 (UNI) SpaceX is preparing to launch the ninth test flight of its Starship rocket as early as next week, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.
The company said that Starship has completed a long-duration static fire of its six engines and is undergoing final preparations ahead of the upcoming test.
"Just before the Starship flight next week, I will give a company talk explaining the Mars game plan in Starbase, Texas, that will also be live-streamed on X," Musk said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
SpaceX’s Starship—a fully reusable launch system designed for missions to Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars—is preparing for its next test flight following a setback in March. During its eighth launch on March 6, the company lost contact with the spacecraft shortly after liftoff, cutting the flight short.
Developed at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas, Starship is the centrepiece of Elon Musk’s for affordable and sustainable space travel. The system comprises two stages: the Super Heavy booster, which provides lift-off power, and the Starship upper stage, which carries crew and cargo beyond Earth. Together, they form the most powerful rocket ever built.
The vehicle is also a critical piece of NASA’s Artemis programme, as the agency has selected Starship to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface during Artemis III, a historic Moon-landing mission scheduled for 2026, which would mark the first crewed Moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.
SpaceX has not announced a precise date for the upcoming test flight, which will be the ninth for a fully stacked Starship vehicle. However, notices to pilots and mariners suggest that May 21 is the working target, pending approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to Space.
The FAA is overseeing SpaceX's investigation into what happened on Flight 8, which launched on March 6. Starship's Super Heavy first stage performed well on that mission, but the vehicle's upper stage — known as Starship, or simply Ship — exploded less than 10 minutes after liftoff.
Flight 7, which lifted off in January, had the same basic outcome.
While the FAA hasn’t given the spacecraft its flight permit yet, as the agency is yet to view SpaceX’s corrective actions for the mishap and decide on anything yet, Musk is confident that the FAA will greenlight the launch.
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