SpaceX is preparing for the next major milestone in its Starship development program, with the 11th test flight of its massive reusable rocket expected to launch from Starbase, Texas, as early as Monday evening. The launch window opens at 6:15 p.m. CT (7:15 p.m. ET/4:15 p.m. PT), and the event will be streamed live on both the SpaceX website and Elon Musk’s social media platform X.
Building on Recent Success
The upcoming test follows a strong performance in late August, when Starship successfully reached space, deployed eight dummy Starlink satellites, and reignited one of its engines in orbit for the first time in 2025. That mission marked a turning point for SpaceX, which had experienced several high-profile failures in earlier attempts.
Monday’s flight aims to build on that progress by testing new systems designed to make the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage more reliable and fully reusable.
New Booster Landing Technique
For this flight, SpaceX will use a reused Super Heavy booster equipped with 24 flight-proven Raptor engines. Instead of returning to land at Starbase, the booster will perform a complex descent and splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, which SpaceX has referred to as the “Gulf of America.” The company says the main goal is to evaluate a new landing burn configuration that could improve control during future recoveries.
During descent, 13 engines will ignite at once before throttling down to five, and finally three, to guide the rocket toward the surface. Engineers will collect data on how the rocket transitions through each stage, information that will inform the design of next-generation Super Heavy boosters.
Testing Starship’s Reentry and Reuse Systems
The upper stage, known simply as Starship, will carry eight mock Starlink satellites identical in size to SpaceX’s upcoming next-gen constellation. It will also attempt to restart one of its engines while in orbit—a key capability needed for future missions to return to Earth or continue deeper into space.
Starship will then perform a controlled reentry, including a banking maneuver to simulate a return-to-launch-site trajectory before splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
Engineers have intentionally removed some heat shield tiles to study how unprotected areas fare during atmospheric reentry, part of SpaceX’s efforts to fine-tune its thermal protection systems.
Looking Toward the Moon and Mars
The test is significant beyond SpaceX’s own ambitions. NASA plans to use a modified version of Starship for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2027. Meanwhile, China’s space agency is advancing its own plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030, intensifying what some see as a new global space race.
If successful, this 11th flight will bring SpaceX closer to achieving its long-term goal of creating a fully reusable launch system—a crucial step in making interplanetary travel to the moon and Mars a practical reality.
