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SpaceX announced that it is targeting October 13 for the 11th test flight of its Starship megarocket, a milestone launch that will cap off the vehicle’s current “Version 2” development phase and pave the way for more advanced iterations.

The company revealed the tentative date in an update on social media channels, with a launch window opening at 6:15 p.m. CT from the Starbase facility in South Texas. A live webcast is scheduled to begin approximately 30 minutes prior on SpaceX’s X account, allowing global audiences to follow the suborbital test in real time.

This flight will pair Booster 15, previously flown on Flight 8 and successfully caught by the launch tower, with Ship 38, the upper stage prototype. It represents the final outing for Block 2 Starship vehicles before transitioning to Block 3 designs, which promise enhanced performance and reusability.

SpaceX has emphasized that launch timelines remain fluid, pending favorable weather, regulatory approvals, and vehicle readiness.

The mission profile mirrors recent successes, including the August 26 Flight 10, which SpaceX hailed as its most accomplished test of 2025. During that launch, the Super Heavy booster executed a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico after separation, while the Starship upper stage deployed eight mock Starlink satellites and achieved a soft ocean landing off Australia’s western coast.

Flight 11 aims to build on these achievements with targeted experiments to refine future operations. Key objectives include deploying eight Starlink simulator payloads—sized like next-generation satellites—that will reenter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up during descent. The upper stage will also perform a Raptor engine relight in orbit to gather propulsion data, alongside mid-flight maneuvers essential for eventual return-to-launch-site landings. To probe the limits of Starship’s thermal protection system, engineers have deliberately omitted heat shield tiles from certain areas, simulating reentry stresses without ablative backups.

On the booster side, Booster 15’s 24 flight-proven Raptor engines will test configurations earmarked for Block 3 vehicles during its descent, though the booster will be expended rather than caught. Ship 38 rolled out to the orbital launch pad on September 17 for static fire preparations, following cryogenic proof tests in late July and engine installations in mid-August.

The announcement comes amid a banner year for Starship, which has completed 10 flights since April 2023, achieving a 50% success rate in meeting primary goals. Early 2025 tests faced setbacks with upper-stage explosions, but recent missions have demonstrated rapid progress in reusability and payload deployment—critical for NASA’s Artemis program, where Starship is tapped as the Human Landing System for lunar missions, and SpaceX’s long-term vision of Mars colonization.

U.S. Coast Guard notices align with SpaceX’s timeline, issuing advisories for potential splashdown zones in the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean from October 13 through 19, underscoring preparations for the booster and ship’s ocean recoveries.

As SpaceX accelerates toward 25 launches in 2025—a goal set by Starbase General Manager Kathy Lueders last November—the October 13 target underscores the company’s iterative approach to spaceflight innovation.

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