SpaceX is gearing up for the eighth test flight of its Starship rocket, hoping to correct course following the explosive mishap that scattered tiny bits of the upper stage over the Atlantic Ocean in January.
Starship is scheduled for liftoff on Monday during an hour-long launch window that opens at 6:30 p.m. ET. The launch will be streamed live on SpaceX’s website and the company’s page on X, with the webcast beginning around 40 minutes before liftoff. “The upcoming flight will target objectives not reached on the previous test, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch,” SpaceX wrote in an emailed statement. You’re also welcome to follow the launch at the third party livestreams provided below.
During flight 7, Starship’s upper stage suffered an engine glitch that forced an early shutdown, causing it to break apart and rain down bits of rocket debris over Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean. The mishap prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to launch an investigation to determine the root cause of Starship’s untimely breakup.
In late February, SpaceX issued a statement that blamed the rocket mishap on a “harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing,” meaning vibrations amplified by resonance that put increased stress on Starship’s propulsion system. Shortly afterward, the FAA gave SpaceX the green light to proceed with the rocket’s eighth test flight. “The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements for the suborbital test flight,” the agency wrote in an emailed statement.
The upcoming flight will follow the same suborbital trajectory as previous test flights. SpaceX will make a second attempt to deploy test satellites from Starship for the first time. For this test, the company will use four Starlink simulators, which will be similar in size and weight to the company’s next-generation satellites. The simulators, however, will not remain in orbit, but are designed to reenter on a similar suborbital trajectory as the rocket itself.
During test flight 8, SpaceX will also carry out multiple reentry experiments that are aimed toward returning the upper stage to the launch site so that it can be caught mid-air in a similar way to the booster. The flight will also include another booster catch attempt.
Starship has undergone several upgrades ahead of its previous test flight, including a smaller forward flap that’s located higher up on the rocket to reduce heating during its reentry. Starship’s propulsion system was upgraded to hold 25% more fuel, along with improved avionics for better valve control and sensor readings, boosting performance and enabling longer missions, according to SpaceX. Starship’s heat shield also uses new, upgraded tiles, with a backup layer underneath in case any of the tiles fall off or sustain damage during reentry.
That said, a “significant number of tiles have been removed from Starship to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle,” the company explained. “Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry,” among other strategies.
Despite the mishap in January, SpaceX is making progress with its Starship rocket. During the rocket’s fifth test flight in October 2024, Starship’s Super Heavy 232-foot-tall (71 meters) booster gently came down towards the 400-foot-tall Mechazilla tower, which caught the massive launch vehicle in its arms for the first time. The feat was repeated during the seventh test in January. SpaceX plans on retrieving and reusing both Starship’s booster and its upper stage.
The megarocket’s test flights don’t always go perfectly, but Starship always puts on a show.
