The colossal first stage of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket has reached the launch pad, setting the stage for its crucial test flight planned for next week.
On Wednesday, October 8, SpaceX released photographs on X, documenting the relocation of its massive Super Heavy booster to the orbital launch mount at the company’s Starbase facility in South Texas.
Starship’s eleventh test flight is scheduled for Monday, October 13, with liftoff anticipated at 7:15 p.m. EDT (2315 GMT).
Starship currently stands as the largest and most potent rocket system ever built. The current iteration of the massive vehicle measures approximately 400 feet (121 meters) in height. However, company founder and CEO Elon Musk has indicated that future versions are planned to be even larger.
The SpaceX launch system comprises two principal components: the Super Heavy booster and the Starship, an upper-stage spacecraft often referred to simply as Ship. Both stages are propelled by SpaceX’s Raptor engines, with Super Heavy utilizing 33 and Starship employing six. A core design objective for both elements is their complete and rapid reusability.
Freshly published imagery provides a close-up view of Super Heavy’s Raptor engines, emphasizing the booster’s base as it is positioned on the launch mount.
SpaceX’s forthcoming Starship Flight 11 is set to follow an operational plan closely aligned with its highly successful predecessor, Flight 10, which launched on August 26 and met all mission parameters.
The Super Heavy booster is scheduled for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, replicating a prior maneuver. This will be the second atmospheric reentry for this specific booster, which previously launched in March on Starship Flight 8. Notably, unlike its previous flight where the booster was caught by the Starbase launch tower’s “chopstick” arms, Flight 11 will not include this recovery method.
On its eleventh mission, the Ship component is scheduled to deploy eight inert replicas of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites into orbit. The vehicle will then conclude its operations by executing a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
