Starship Prototype Testing

On this page: Integrated Flight Test-5 | Integrated Flight Test-4 | Integrated Flight Test-3 | Integrated Flight Test-2 | Integrated Flight Test-1 | SN25 | SN28 | SN29 |SN30 | Hot Staging | Orbital Flight Plan | SN24 | SN20 | Upper Stage Tests | Early Starship Prototypes | Starhopper

Starships under Development

Starship Version 1

After Starship's second integrated flight, Elon Musk shared on "X" that SpaceX is planning to start building Version 2 of Starship. In his post he showed the last of the Version 1 Starships on site at Boca Chica. These ships are "V1": Starships SN26, SN28, SN29, SN30, SN31 and SN32. The second version of Starship (upper stage) should carry more propellant, have less dry mass, and increased reliability. The new version may have nine Raptor engines instead of six. Version 2 will no doubt include improvements made by SpaceX using data collected from flights of the V1 vessels.

Remaining Unflown V.1 Starships

Starship SN31

SN31 On May 12, 2024, while SpaceX was conducting cryogenic testing on Starship SN31 at Massey's test site a fire broke out on the vehicle. The test was shut down and employees were cleared from the area. Because of the testing mishap, this Starship has earned the nickname, Sparky. SN31 was repaired and is now in the megabay receiving new thermal protection tiles.

Starship SN32

SN32 is in the rocket garden.

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Starship SN30

Starship SN30 is now stacked on top of SuperHeavy Booster #12 and ready to launch for the fifth integrated test flight. This time, SpaceX will attempt to catch the booster as it returns from the flight.

Starship 29

Starship SN29 was launched on SuperHeavy Booster #11 and flew the Integrated Flight Test-4 mission on June 6, 2024.

Starship SN29 Integrated Flight Test – 4 (IFT-4)

Covered with white frost, Starship successfully lifted off at 7:50 a.m. CT after a smooth fueling operation. Prior to ignition, the water deluge system began to spray gallons of water to keep the launch area cool. A quick flash and the monster Raptor Engines roared to life, lifting the giant two-stage vehicle. Quickly after lift off, it was obvious that one Raptor engine did not ignite. Still, there was plenty enough power to send the giant starship blazing into the sky, followed by a trail of Mach diamonds.

About a minute later, the rocket reached max-Q where the most aerodynamic forces press against it. Starship quickly hit supersonic speed. At ~2:46 seconds, Raptors on the booster began to shutdown in sequence until only 3 engines continued to propel it. At 2:54 into the flight and ~72 km above the Earth, the Starship upper stage ignited its Raptors and stage separation came at 3:00 after launch. The next event was the ejection of the hot-staging ring from the bottom of the Starship upper stage. It was performed flawlessly and the 8-ton ring fell back to Earth. In the future, SpaceX plans to add an integrated system to the top of the first stage booster.

Meanwhile, the booster lit up the middle ring of Raptor engines and the booster flew back to Earth using 13 Raptors. This boost-back burn ended about 4 minutes into the flight. The booster was ~107 km over the ground when all its engines were shutdown. After drifting back to Earth until just before reaching the surface of the sea, when the engines were ignited again. (Actually 12 restarted.) The Booster successfully landed in the ocean inside its planned 5-km diameter landing zone about 7.5 minutes after launch. This marked the success of the booster-landing mission milestone in the flight plan.

While the SuperHeavy was amazing us with SpaceX views over the remote cameras, Starship's engines accelerated the upper stage to a speed over 20,000 km per hour. At 8:12 into the flight the vacuum engines were cut-off, followed by the sea-level Raptors. Starship reached orbital insertion about 9 minutes after launch. SpaceX returned the live feed about 40 minutes later and Starship cameras showed the Earth far below. Traveling above the Earth, some features could be seen as the ship passed near land. Many camera views were possible, focusing on the flap that had to take much of the heat as the Earth's atmosphere slowed its passage. Unlike the last flight, Starship maintained its attitude, no rolling around on this flight.

Starship re-entry was amazing with the ship's top speed reaching ~26,756 km per hour about 89 km over the Earth. The drag of Earth's atmosphere increased as the ship dropped lower. A bright red glow of plasma was seen surrounding the vehicle. At 83 km over the surface, Starship's flaps took control of the flight. Starship passed successfully through the area of peak heating, still intact. About 55 km above the surface, the forward flap seemed to start breaking up. Still holding up when Starship was 50 km up, speed was reduced to about 12,400 km per hour.

About one hour into the flight, the camera that was delivering the image cracked due to flying debris. Suddenly the signal was lost, but was recovered a few seconds later. The Starship was still falling its way to the surface, slowing down even more as it crossed through maximum pressure. The live feed went out again, though the ship was still sending telemetry. At 30 km, the live feed returned. Through a clouded and cracked camera lens, the flap could be seen to move and the ship was at 13 km, traveling at 700 km per hour. More movement of the flap could be seen at 9 km, breaking ITF-3's record. Just a click above the surface, it appeared that the flap may have been ripped off the vehicle. There was no recorded landing burn, but the vehicle obviously fell into the Indian Ocean and the flight was somewhere around an hour and five minutes

Integrated Flight Test-4 was quite close to meeting all of its goals. Changes to the heat tiles made a marked difference at reentry. It was a tremendous performance!

+ Check the SpaceX website for Starship | Fourth Flight Test high-def video of ITF-4.

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Flight Plan

A new flight plan for ITF-4 has been posted by SpaceX. Unlike ITF-3, Starship has no activities to perform, instead this flight will concentrate on the successful launch and landing of the SuperHeavy booster and Starship upper stage. This will help the Starship system to develop its reusability. Like ITF-3, the upper stage Starship is scheduled to land in the Indian Ocean.

The first major change to the flight plan comes after the separation of the first stage, the hot-stage maneuver. The hot-staging ring will be ejected, freeing the booster from the extra mass. SuperHeavy will perform a flip maneuver and a boost-back burn. It should then return to the ocean's surface, perform a landing burn and land upright at the coordinates that are programmed. The Starship upper stage will continue its ascent for about 4 and 1/2 minutes, and the engines will stop firing. The vehicle will coast for about 39 minutes and begin its entry into Earth's atmosphere. After slowing down to subsonic speed it will do a landing flip, followed by a landing burn. Starship will then land on its belly in the Indian Ocean.

Integrated Flight Test – 4 will emphasize the re-usability flight profile. It is hoped that the SuperHeavy booster can prove itself for the tower-catch maneuver that is the next challenge for its reuse. The Starship upper stage has to make a controlled re-entry and should be able to land softly. Although the views from Starship SN28's re-entry were fantastic, it was a failure. Many changes have been made to Starship SN29, adding attitude control jets and changing their positions. Changes have been made to the heat tiles as well. We at Astra's are wishing SpaceX success with the new improvements.

+ Check the SpaceX website for flight plan for ITF-4

SN29 finished cryo testing in September and October of 2023, and was rolled back to the rocket garden. On leap day, Starship 29 was rolled over to the orbital launch site and lifted to Pad B on March 2. On March 11, a successful spin test was performed.

Starship SN29 timeline

Starship 28

Paired with Booster #10, the Starship SN28 vehicle flew the Integrated Flight Test-3. After a successful wet dress rehearsal, SpaceX launched SN28 on March 14, 2024. For Astra's review of the flight, check this page for Integrated Flight Test-3.

There have been many changes to the launch site since ITF-2 at Starbase. New fuel tanks have enabled the Starship and SuperHeavy launch system to be fueled in about 50 minutes. Improvements to the orbital launch base and the chopsticks that lift the Starship and booster have been made. These are just a few of what Elon Musk said were thousands of changes.

The flight plan for ITF-3 was posted by SpaceX. This time, Starship has three activities to perform after engine cutoff including opening the payload door at about 11:56 after the launch. Next, SpaceX will attempt to relight a Raptor engine in space. What we at Astra's are most excited about is the cryogenic fuel transfer between the main tank and the header tank. After the transfer, the ship is now scheduled to land in the Indian Ocean and not the Pacific. Starship should belly flop into the ocean far from any major population center.

Starship SN28 timeline

Starship SN28 Integrated Flight Test – 3 (IFT-3)

On March 14, 2024, SpaceX successfully launched the third integrated flight test of Starship SN28 and SuperHeavy Booster #10 at 8:25 CST from Boca Chica, Texas. All 33 engines lit and burned flawlessly while SuperHeavy pushed the upperstage Starship for about 2 minutes and 42 seconds when they reached 67 km in altitude. At that point, all but three of the booster's Raptor engines shut down to begin the hot-stage process. At 72 km, the Starship upper stage ignited all of its Raptor engines and successfully continued upward.

SuperHeavy Booster

The central engines of SuperHeavy were re-ignited, moving it out of the way of the upperstage. At 2:54 into the flight the second ring of boosters was reignited, gimbaling SuperHeavy into position for its long fall back to Earth. This "boost-back burn" lasted about a minute. All engines on SuperHeavy fell silent by 3:48, when it was 101 km in altitude. Soon, the SuperHeavy was falling back to Earth, gaining speed under the influence of gravity. The grid-fins on the booster started moving in order to control the drop, but when the engines restarted close to the ground, they did not start together but staggered. About 7 minutes into flight, when the SuperHeavy Booster should have softly landed in the ocean, it was still traveling over 1000 km per hour. Yep, RUD on the sea. (SpaceX reported that Booster #10 blew up at 462 meters in altitude.) Overall, SuperHeavy seemed to work very well up to the point it should have been burning its Raptor engines that would slow it down to make the soft landing. The grid-fins did not seem to work properly near the end of the flight.

The Starship Upperstage

After the successful hot-staging maneuver, Starship was powered by its engines, three sea-level Raptor engines and three vacuum Raptors. At this time, SN28 was about 70 km in altitude and leaving SuperHeavy far behind. At 3:39 minutes into the flight, Starship crossed the Kármán line, 100 km above the surface of the Earth. By the time the SuperHeavy booster met its final RUD, Starship was traveling at 17,000 km per hour and at 144 km in altitude. The Ship continued its flight, reaching engine cutoff. The three vacuum engines cut out at 8:21 and the sea-level engines quit firing at 8:35, finally leaving the Ship to coast on its own, 150 km above the Earth's surface. At 14:31 after the launch, SpaceX shared the view of the payload door where there was a bit of atmosphere still left inside the compartment. At 16:15, the compartment was shown again and the door was commanded to open. The remaining atmosphere swirled out of the compartment and flew off into space. Sunshine poked into the open doorway.

While Starship was coasting, it successfully completed the transfer of thousands of pounds of cryogenic propellant from the header tank to the main liquid oxygen tank. We only learned this through NASA and SpaceX news reports. Links for those reports are posted below. Evidently NASA and SpaceX are reviewing the flight data to find out how successful it was. The third test, the relighting of the engines, was not attempted because SN28 was rolling and the reaction control or roll thrusters were unable to correct the problem. This rolling would mean that the propellant was also rolling in the tank. Restarting would be bad for the Raptor engines.

Unfortunately, the views we were given of the Starship dashboard were indicating a change of attitude, and the vehicle was actually rolling. In other words, it was not holding the correct attitude needed for the entry into Earth's atmosphere. At 44 minutes into the flight, the cameras showed bits and pieces falling off the Ship. Some of those pieces looked like tiles - - those same heat tiles that were looking good after the Starship made it into orbit. Light and shadows playing on the ship attest to the fact that it was not maintaining the attitude for the belly flop. Wisps of white gasses may have indicated some attempt to control the attitude with thrusters but due to the obvious motion, the vehicle was unable to rectify that. Unfortunately the heat shield did not face the atmosphere as it was intended, so there was no test of the thermal protection system. Starship SN28 was traveling at 27,430 km per hour when it encountered Earth's atmosphere. About 46 minutes after takeoff, we began to see the tile-covered fin begin to glow. As spectacular as it was to watch as the horror of atmospheric entry unfolded, it was necessary to face the facts that the landing would not happen. Starship 28 blew up in the atmosphere, most likely because the engines were exposed to hot gasses.

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Wow! The third test flight was amazing. The cameras that SpaceX flew on IFT-3 worked very well, giving some awesome views. The signal from the Starship was picked up by Starlink satellites, NASA's TDRS system, and other ground stations. Four Starlink antennas were added to the Starship. Starlink satellites proved their worth just for these views.!

The water deluge system began spraying water to set off the launch sequence. The system must have worked well because the road to the launch site was opened shortly after the flight. All 33 of SuperHeavy's Raptor Engines started up and worked flawlessly through launch and hot staging. Now during IFT-2, many people claimed the hot staging worked, but I couldn't call that because the booster did not successfully turn and start heading toward land. This time the booster was able to complete the hot-staging maneuver. The upperstage Starship SN28 successfully headed off on its own. Starship is considered to have reached orbit. The speed and height it reached was intentionally limited by its mission objectives. Apogee for SN28 was 234 km, with a perigee that would not take it around the Earth, but to Earth's surface. Successful mission objectives included the payload door opening and the fuel transfer working.

The FAA has already called for a mishap investigation. This is always necessary when the actual flight does not match the flight plan. Although this may seem like bureaucratic red tape, it is not just a formality, but calls for a thorough review of the flight. As SpaceX is building this new launch system, systematic review of each detail can only help to perfect the design. Once the system is able to carry out a safe flight and is approved for operation, these reviews will not be necessary unless there is a mishap.

So the most obvious problem during IFT-3 was that the giant Starship spacecraft could not hold a stable orbit. It was rolling, pitching, and most likely yawing as well at various times during its solo flight. This is most distressing and I wonder what improvements will be made to the design by SpaceX. Because of those unwanted motions, there was no attempt to re-activate the Raptors, so this test will have to be repeated until that is corrected. The problem lies with the thrusters on the upperstage Starship - - that must be solved.

Both stages of the Starship system had a problem landing. Starship achieved orbit, but not re-entry. SuperHeavy seemed, oh, so close, to making a soft landing. The engines did not relight properly. I believe they restarted too late, when the booster was a mere kilometer or so above the ground, rather than 5 km above the surface. Far be it for me to tell a company that has successfully landed so many Falcon 9s how to soft land. Landing failed because the engines did not relight properly.

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Integrated Flight Test - 3 was a success, despite the fact that the vehicles were not able to land. Reusability will come. Starship is moving toward perfection at a nice pace. I believe the lunar Starship can be ready in time for the test flight of Artemis. The success of the fuel transfer demonstration is very encouraging, but there is a lot of ground to cover before that becomes a reality.

#ImaRocketFan - Astra

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We used some resources to help produce this walk through of the partially successful Starship SN28 mission.

Although these are not given by name, these YouTube channels listed here are pointed at the videos that were reviewed before writing this article on IFT-3:

• Scott Manley
• Marcus House
• What About it?
• The Launch Pad

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Starship SN27 was cut in half without any testing on July 20, 2023.

Starship SN26 was rolled out in December of 2022 and has had a long history of testing, beginning in February of 2023 at suborbital launch pad A. It is still active, currently located at the Massey Test site. It may be a lunar lander test article for the Artemis program.

Starship SN25

Starship SN25 starship prototype was rolled out to the orbital launch site at Boca Chica on October 19, 2022. Although SN25 had a full heat shield, it had no engines when it was moved to the launch area. On October 20, when SN24 was lifted up onto Booster #7 with the special arms that are intended to raise and eventually catch returning starships, SN25 was at the launch site being lifted at the same time. SN25 was returned to the build area where it should be fitted with Raptor engines. Although SN25 was deployed with a specialized cargo bay intended to launch SpaceX's Starlink satellites, its payload bay was sealed permanently shut.

R.I.P Starship SN25 and Booster #9!

Starship SN25 timeline

Starship SN25 Integrated Flight Test – 2 (IFT-2)

November 18, 2023, was a foggy morning at Boca Chica, Texas where SpaceX crews worked to ready their equipment for the second integrated flight test of the Starship, pressing to meet the 7:00 am CST launch schedule. As the Sun rose, the fog cleared and everything appeared to be ready to go. The propellants had been loaded and the giant spacecraft and rocket were covered with frost from the chilled cryofluids inside the rocket’s tanks. At 7:03, the SuperHeavy booster’s 33 Raptor engines lit up sequentially until the behemoth rocket took to the sky. All 33 engines continued to burn while Starship soared into the sky leaving a trail of giant Mach diamonds behind (also known as shock diamonds) as it rose.

Starship SN25 was built with a "hot-staging" section that would allow the second stage engines to start up while the first stage engines continued burning. Like the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket, the first stage booster is meant to be reusable, returning to Earth. To make this system work, the number of engines firing on the first stage would be reduced to three. This first step was accomplished at ~ 2:40 after launch, the booster separated from the upper stage and three engines were still running. The rocket was 90 km over the ocean surface. The giant booster was to turn and splash down, but something went amiss and at ~ 3:22 into the flight, there was a massive explosion. I thought that the vehicle’s Flight Termination System (FTS) was activated but maybe there was another cause for the explosion.

Meanwhile, the upper stage Starship was under power with its own Raptor engines, three sea-level engines and three vacuum engines that seemed to be carrying out their duties admirably. It continued to rise and at 5:05 into the flight, the Cape Canaveral station received its signal. This ascent continued until the Starship rose 148km at 8:07 into the flight. The image was not clear, but at this time there was a massive explosion. Later Elon Musk explained that this was because they vented the Oxygen header tank that would have been used if Starship was carrying a payload. After the upper stage blew up the flight ended.

Starship made it into space, considered to start around 100km above Earth’s surface, but it never made it into orbit. There were a lot of positive outcomes to this flight. The new steel plate that SpaceX installed under the launch pad to deliver water underneath the rocket performed well, preventing damage to the launch pad. This new type of water deluge system invented by SpaceX engineers has proven viable. All of the Raptor engines on the booster ignited and the hot-stage system seemed to work as well. The return of the booster to Earth for reusability was not proven, but seems it could be made to work with some tweaking. There were some repairs to the launch pad needed, but in all, the flight was a great success for SpaceX. By studying the performance of the Starship system, improvements can be made. Unfortunately, since the Starship flight did not meet its stated goals, it is considered to be a mishap by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A mishap investigation will take place and the next experimental flight will need its own license.

+ + Check out SpaceX's Starship Update of February 26, 2024, "Building on the Success of Starship’s Second Flight Test" to find out how SpaceX uses iterative design process to develop Starship.

Starship SN24

SpaceX launched the first integrated test of Starship, using SN24!

Starship SN24 Starship prototype was extensively tested by SpaceX along with Falcon Super Heavy Booster #7. They launched together on April 20, 2023 and flew for about 4 minutes. The booster and SN24 were destroyed after they did not separate at main engine cut off. The original milestones reported at Astra's Stargate are retained in this section.

Starship SN24's original flight plan included launch on Super Heavy booster #7 that was to shut down and separate 170 seconds in the flight. Booster #7 was to land in the ocean about 20 miles away from the launch site. The second stage Starship SN24 was to continue, reaching space and landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Hawaiian island Kauai. No part of SN24 was to be recovered, but the landing of Starship would test the thermal protection system and Starship behavior as it enters the Earth's atmosphere.

+ + SpaceX released the Starship | First Integrated Flight Test | Recap

On November 15, 2022, a Booster #7 second static fire with 14 Raptor engines were fired simultaneously. Booster 7 replaced Booster #4. Booster #8 was evidently retired and booster #7 became the first booster that flew.

Static Fire Test Success!

Super Heavy Booster 7 (B7) successfully fired 31 of its 33 Raptor engines on February 9, 2023. One engine was manually disabled before the static fire by the SpaceX test team and one engine shut down automatically before ignition due to an unspecified problem. The 31 Raptor engines completed a static fire that lasted about five seconds as was expected. Elon Musk said that the 31 engines were enough for the Starship to reach orbit. The orbital launch mount (OLM) holds the Starship while the engines are working.

Testing Mishap

Starship 24 and Booster 7 have been repeatedly tested at Boca Chica, with a static fire on July 11, 2022 ending in an explosion that was damaging to the Raptor Engines as well as the launch pad. During the test all 33 Raptor engines were tested simultaneously causing methane gas to build up under the booster. The methane ignited and caused the explosion. Booster 7 was repaired and returned to the launch pad on August 26, 2022 to begin new testing, this time with 20 engines being fired.

Repairs were made to the launch site as well as the booster and testing resumed.

Starship SN20

Starship SN20 is the first version of Starship prototypes to be stacked on Falcon Super Heavy Booster #4. It was planned to be the first Starship to reach orbit but delays for the launch including FAA approval finally caught up to SN20 and it was removed from the pad on March 12, 2022. Booster 4 was removed from the launch pad on March 24, 2022. On May 12, 2022, SN20 was moved from the launch area to the production area and parked with other old prototypes in the so-called "rocket garden." at the Boca Chica build site.

SN20's flight was canceled but in February 2022, SN20 and Booster #4 were restacked for Elon Musk's regular "Starship update." the update was held on February 10, 2022. SN20 and Booster 4 were replaced by Starship 24 and Booster 7. In addition, Starship 22 was built but was later scrapped.

On August 6, 2021, Starship SN20 was placed on top of Super Heavy Booster #4, by the giant crane that has been dubbed "Frankencrane" aka "Kong" (It is a R11350-P1800 Liebherr crane) one of the largest cranes in the world.

Of course a lot of the launch and launch support systems have been built at SpaceX's Boca Chica facilities, now designated as Starbase. Work goes on day and night because the sooner Starship is launched for a suborbital flight, the more data can be acquired. Building of the Ground Support Equipment (GSE) has been ongoing, with eight tanks including four liquid oxygen tanks, two liquid nitrogen tanks, one methane tank, and one water tank. A large tower for launching the Starship has been built as well as an orbital launch pad. This tower is to be equipped with arms that will catch the returning super heavy booster.

Raptor Engines

The Falcon Super Heavy and Starship are powered by SpaceX's Raptor Engines that are still being developed. The latest Raptor 2.0 design are vastly improved over the previous versions. SpaceX plans three Raptor variants: sea level engine with gimbal, sea level engine without gimbal, and vacuum level engine without gimbal.

Read more about Raptor Engines on Astra's SpaceX page

Thermal Protection System

A very important system to be tested by SN20 is the Thermal Protection System (TPS). This system must work flawlessly. In an attempt to make the tiles easier to service, most of them are the same shape. They are about 12-inches across and have a hexagonal shape, fitting together like a honeycomb. They have a mounting system that allows them to move a bit while not allowing "chipping." The nose cone is a bit more difficult to cover and there are flap hinges that need more attention. Unfortunately, some of the tiles fell off during Starship SN20's first test. This may have happened during stacking when Starship was lifted by the crane.

Testing of Upper-stage Starship Prototypes

In this section: SN15 | SN10 - SN11 | SN9 | SN8

Starship SN15

Starship SN15 sports many improvements over previously flown prototypes. It was been stated that there were hundreds of changes! (Yes, SpaceX skipped some serial number designations.) First, the three Raptor engines are a new improved model. It is important to realize that these changes are made using the data that was obtained by previous test flights. According to Elon Musk the improvements include structures, avionics software, and engine improvements.

SN15 rolled out to launch pad A in Boca Chica on April 8, 2021, without a nose cone. That was added later. There were preflight tests including ambient temperature pressure, cryogenics tests, and static fire tests in late April. More heat tiles were applied to the rocket and it also sports a Starlink satellite antenna. On May 5, 2021, Starship SN15 was launched.

After a long wait, Starship SN15's Raptor Engines were started around 5:30 pm CDT. Taking off in a cloud of orange flames, SN15 rose slowly from the pad. It was visible for a few moments before disappearing into a low cloud bank. SpaceX provided a feed from the vessel, with a new camera attached to the upper flap that points along the side of the vessel and lower flap. The SpaceX cameras cut out at various stages, although the shutting down of the engines was not visible, but they came back to show that the vehicle was in belly flop and that the engines had been silenced.

After about 6 minutes of flight, SN15, came down at the edge of its intended landing zone. Two of the three Raptor engines were used, with the third moving out of the way to allow the vessel to touch down on the Earth. Although SN15 landed in an orange cloud, it obviously slid a bit across the surface, the landing legs were mangled and would have to be replaced before a re-f light. A methane fire at the bottom of the rocket burned for about 20 minutes but was handled by the fire suppression equipment. The heat shield tiles performed admirably, with only one casualty. Happily, Elon Musk has indicated that Starship SN15 may fly again!

Whether or not SN15 proves the reusability concept, Starship SN16 is in the high bay and will be launched in the near future.

SpaceX released the High-altitude Flight Recap of SN15.

Starship SN11

Shortly after the demise of SN10, Starship SN11 was rolled out to the pad. This is the end of the series, because the next Starship prototype that will be launched is SN15 that evidently has some significant improvements over the first series of full-up Starship prototypes with a complete nose cone.

SN11 was launched on March 29, 2021 on a foggy day over Boca Chica. There was no way to track the rocket through the fog visually. It appeared that there was some kind of anomaly restarting the Raptors and SN11 apparently blew up before reaching the ground as evidenced by the fact that debris was found over 10 km away.

SpaceX released the High-altitude Flight Recap of SN11.

Starship SN10

Starship SN10 was ferried to the launch pad on January 29, 2021, while SN9 was already on the pad, waiting for its chance to rise into the sky. The first static firing tests were run shortly thereafter.

Starship prototype rocket SN10 launched on March 3, 2021 at 5:14 p.m. US Central Time, rising into the sky over Boca Chica. Rising past wispy layers of clouds, SN10's flight was different from the last two as during the entire flight, a stream of white exhaust (?) plumes followed it into the sky. When one engine was shut down, the exhaust streaming from the remaining two engines showed two distinctly different colors, one stream was pale blue while the other sported an orange and yellow stream. The second Raptor shut down and SN10 continued on one engine until it hit 10km. Then it flipped on its side, belly flopping and floating in free fall until it was less than 2 km above the surface. Three engines were restarted, then switching down to one Raptor before touchdown.

The single Raptor was able to slow down the ship, but methane flames were shooting out on one side of the Starship. (Was a valve stuck open?) SN10 landed on the pad in a cloud of smoke and flame. It landed close to the spot that the SpaceX guidance system sent it. The landing was far from perfect though and it seemed to hit a little hard. It made a lurch as it was setting down, the landing wasn't exactly "stuck"! After the smoke cleared, I found myself studying the motionless SN10 Starship carefully for crumbled metal.

Starship SN10 stood atilt on the launch pad, listing to one side. A bright flame lapped from one side and a water fire suppressor began spraying water on the rocket. People cheered and turned off their cameras. Starship had returned safely to mother Earth, firmly listing on the ground! It was basically erect, for about 8 minutes. Unexpectedly, the whole launch pad was illuminated by a giant explosion. SN10 shot up at least 50 feet into the air, its second attempt at launch unassisted by flight controllers. It performed a second belly flop and smacked back down on the ground, the fuselage flattened. Metal pieces flew out in all directions. RUD all over the place!

It must be said that progress was made, for getting SN10 to flip from horizontal to vertical and landing it on the X, SpaceX that is!

SpaceX released the High-altitude Flight Recap of SN10.

Starship SN9

As 2021 opened, a shiny new Starship, SN9 was standing on the launch pad. High winds had knocked it off its test stand in the high bay where it was being assembled. It was quickly moved, repaired and rolled out to the launch pad. The first firing tests were run shortly thereafter.

After some delays with FAA regulators, Starship SN9 was launched on February 2, 2021 at 3:25 p.m. EST from Boca Chica. SN9 rose up gracefully, lifted by three Raptor engines. As the ship rose higher, one Raptor was switched off, leaving an orange flame dancing about the rocket's skirt until the excess fuel was spent. SN9 continued to rise upward and a second engine was shut down. The Starship continued until it was just short of its target altitude of about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) and the last engine went silent.

Starship SN9's flight plan was as SN8's before, the rocket flipped 90 degrees and began to fall toward Earth. It fell through the Earth's atmosphere, without power, dropping toward the surface soundlessly. Starship dropped to about 1.5 km before the flip maneuver was attempted. When the engines were restarted, two of them were supposed to kick in, but only one seemed to start up and keep burning. SN9 was tilted further over than its older sister. Like SN8 before, a giant orange smoky fireball signaled the demise of prototype SN9.

SpaceX released the High-altitude Flight Recap of SN9.

Starship SN8

When Starship SN8 was rolled out to the launch pad on September 26, 2020 it had no nose cone. On October 22, 2020, the nose cone was attached to the rocket by crews working at the pad. The nose cone was lifted to the top of Starship SN8 with a giant crane at SpaceX's Boca Chica, TX facility. SN8 was the first prototype that looked like a rocketship.

On December 9, 2020, Starship SN8 launched into the clear blue sky over Boca Chica, Texas while across the globe, hundreds of thousands people tuned into streaming videos. The silver craft was the prototype of a huge rocket, intended to launch humankind into space heading for the red planet, Mars. SpaceX started up the 3 raptor engines and they roared into action, and slowly, the silver rocket lifted off the launch pad and began an ascent that seemed incredibly slow.

It began traveling up into the blue Texan sky. A billowing cloud of smoke covered the launch area. White rings of condensation from the cold fuel begin to appear around the rocket. For almost two minutes the three engines continued the upward climb, then SpaceX shut down one of the raptors and the remaining two swiveled around to balance the load of the soaring silver craft. The unburned fuel of the now silent engine burned up in the engine skirt. Unfenced, SN8 continued soaring upward. Puffy white smoke exited the rocket while the bright flame of the active engines steamed out the bottom. The rocket began to tilt toward the ground.

A minute and a half later, a second raptor was silenced and the solitary raptor continued to carry SN8 upward. The straight red plume was surrounded by the puffy white exhaust of the silenced raptors. SpaceX began firing SN8's booster rocket at the middle of the vessel (mid-ship) tipping the rocket even more toward the ground. At around 4 minutes and 45 seconds the main engine was cut off (MECO) and the mid-ship booster fired. With no further propulsion SN8 begins to fall toward the Earth, from 12,000 feet in the air!

The mid-ship booster fired and SN8 fell sideways. An upper nitrogen booster fired off in the nose cone, its propulsive force guided the great silver Starship onto its side. The nose pointed slightly downward and the white rings on its body grew. The ship began its fatal fall about 5 minutes after launch. With nothing but gravity pulling it downward, the silver Starship fell steadily for one and a half minutes. Six minutes into the flight, it hit the smoke from the effort of its launch, falling through the cloud. With a roar, the raptor(s) came to life, the craft directly over its intended landing site. But the engines started up too late and a green flame from the rocket told that something had gone very wrong with at least one engine. The ground is too close! Starship SN8 hit the ground with a loud crash, the nose cone continuing toward Earth even as the crumbled rocket sides splattered. Nothing could be seen for several seconds but an ominous brown cloud with a bright orange flame where the rocket was still burning.

Six minutes and forty-two seconds after launch, the giant Starship SN8 was no more.

SpaceX released the high-altitude flight recap of SN8, conveniently embedded here at Stargate:

Early Starship Prototypes

Starhopper

Starhopper took a few brief flights in the summer of 2019, retiring after acing its own 500-foot-high hop that August. This first vessel was outfitted with one Raptor engine. The Raptor was first tested on April 3, 2019. Starhopper's first test flight reached 18 meters in July 2019. Starhopper's second reached an altitude of about 65 feet. Starhopper's final flight reached 150 meters on July 27, 2019. The entire flight was less than 1 minute, but Starhopper landed on point.

After Starhopper, SpaceX created a number of prototypes, known as MK1 to MK4, these test articles were unsuccessful, except for MK3 that was renamed to SN1. To be clear, the prototype being tested is the upper stage of the Starship launch system.

Starship SN1 was undergoing a pressurization test on February 28, 2020 when a bulkhead failed. This tank was expected to fail and supply information on construction and tank capacities.

Starship SN2 was a stripped down version of the Starship prototype that successfully performed static firing tests in March 2020 and was then retired.

Starship SN3 was undergoing a pressurization test on April 3, 2020 when a bulkhead failed. Although SN3 passed an ambient temperature test the previous night, it failed the cryogenic (cold) pressure test.

Starship SN4 blew up on the launch pad May 29, 2020. This was SN4's fifth static-fire engine test. SpaceX was prepared and quickly set up SN5 for further testing.

Starship SN6+

Starship SN6 was another cylinder without a proper nose cone that was rolled out shortly after the SN5 hop. After a successful static fire test, on September 3, 2020, Starship SN6 successfully launched and flew 150 meters (500 feet) up. Again the spacecraft deployed its landing legs as planned and stuck the landing. This prototype used a single Raptor engine, SN29. The next prototype labeled SN7 was really just a tank pressure test. It was destroyed when the tank was overfilled on June 23, 2020. An additional prototype, dubbed SN7.1 was also destroyed by pressure testing on September 23, 2020.

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