{"id":9839,"date":"2025-05-26T17:44:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T09:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-preview-spacex-to-launch-its-starship-super-heavy-rocket-on-its-9th-test-flight\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T17:44:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T09:44:29","slug":"launch-preview-spacex-to-launch-its-starship-super-heavy-rocket-on-its-9th-test-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-preview-spacex-to-launch-its-starship-super-heavy-rocket-on-its-9th-test-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch preview: SpaceX to launch its Starship-Super Heavy rocket on its 9th test flight"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_69762\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-69762\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-69762\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_Flight-9_stacked.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_Flight-9_stacked.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_Flight-9_stacked-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_Flight-9_stacked-678x381.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_Flight-9_stacked-768x432.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-69762\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy rocket stands stacked at Pad A at Starbase, Texas, ahead of the Starship Flight 9 mission. Image: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SpaceX is gearing up for a critical flight test for its Starship program. Launch teams are preparing to send the world\u2019s largest rocket on its ninth test flight for the fully integrated vehicle on Tuesday eventing.<\/p>\n<p>The company is betting on the testing and improvements made since the first flight of its Block 2 Starship upper stage will allow that part of the rocket to fly as intended. It\u2019s a feat that eluded SpaceX in its previous two launches for the program.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX is aiming for the mission, dubbed Starship Flight 9, to launch from Pad A at Starbase, Texas, during a window that opens on Tuesday, May 27, at 6:30 p.m. CDT (7:30 p.m. EDT, 2330 UTC).<\/p>\n<p>Spaceflight Now will have joint live coverage with LabPadre beginning about two hours prior to liftoff.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/okOzxHN9NOA\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A highlight of the mission will be the reuse of a Super Heavy booster for the first time. The stage, tail number B14, will fly with 29 of its 33 original Raptor engines.<\/p>\n<p>Turning around a booster for repeat flights is a hallmark of SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 business model. Following the first orbital launch of a Falcon 9 rocket in June 2010 it took until March 2017 before the company reused a booster, which first flew a year prior.<\/p>\n<p>Comparatively, SpaceX\u2019s first launch of its fully-integrated Starship-Super Heavy rocket was April 2023 and B14 flew for the first time on the Starship Flight 7 mission in January 2025.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_69764\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-69764\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-69764\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_B14_Flight-7.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_B14_Flight-7.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_B14_Flight-7-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_B14_Flight-7-678x381.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_B14_Flight-7-768x432.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-69764\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Super Heavy booster used on Starship Flight 7, tail number B14, is captured as it returned to be caught by the launch tower\u2019s chopstick arms in January 2025. Image: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4>Roadmap for the future<\/h4>\n<p>SpaceX is under pressure to have a fully successful launch since it has yet to fly a successful mission with the Block 2 Starship second stage.<\/p>\n<p>NASA is keenly watching the program since the Block 3 version of Starship will be needed to safely ferry its astronauts to the surface of the Moon on the Artemis 3 mission. That lunar touchdown was delayed from late 2026 to no earlier mid-2027 in part because of the lack of readiness of the Starship rocket.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_69763\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-69763\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-69763\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_HLS_Moon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_HLS_Moon.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_HLS_Moon-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_HLS_Moon-678x378.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250526_Starship_HLS_Moon-768x429.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-69763\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s rendering of the Human Landing System version of SpaceX\u2019s Starship rocket on the surface of the Moon. This depiction was first shared in November 2024. Illustration: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SpaceX previously said it planned to perform a ship-to-ship propellant transfer demonstration in low Earth orbit in the early to mid part of 2025. Neither SpaceX nor NASA have provided a recent update on when this testing is now anticipated.<\/p>\n<p>It will be needed sooner rather than later though, since SpaceX needs to conduct an uncrewed landing and ascent demonstration from the Moon ahead of the Artemis 3 mission. Each propellant servicing needs at least 10 launches to fill a tanker version of Starhip in orbit, although SpaceX has not said exactly how many number of flights would be required.<\/p>\n<p>While these Artemis program needs are top of mind for the current NASA leadership, SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk, continue to aim squarely at Mars. Musk has recently suggested that an uncrewed mission to the Red Planet would ideally launch in late 2026, however, that would also require SpaceX to perfect on-orbit refueling to bring that within the realm of possibility.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the Starship Flight 9 launch, Musk intends to hold a company talk called \u201cThe Road to Making Life Multiplanetary,\u201d which will be live-streamed on SpaceX\u2019s X account, Musk\u2019s social media platform. The talk is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. CDT (1 p.m. EDT, 1700 UTC) on May 27.<\/p>\n<p>Musk said his talk would explain \u201cthe Mars game plan\u201d. It was not clear if it will also address the progress towards the goals laid out in SpaceX\u2019s contracts with NASA.<\/p>\n<p>The address also comes as the U.S. Senate is on the cusp of voting on Jared Isaacman\u2019s nomination to be NASA\u2019s next administrator. A vote could come as soon as next week, once the Senate is back in session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy rocket stands stacked at Pad A at Starbase, Texas, ahead of the Starship Flight 9 mission. Image: SpaceX SpaceX is gearing up for a critical flight test for its Starship program. Launch teams are preparing to send the world\u2019s largest rocket on its ninth test flight for the fully integrated vehicle [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[190,316,317,1100],"class_list":["post-9839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-nasa","tag-spacex","tag-starship","tag-starship-flight-9"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}