Review of SpaceX’s 2026 Superheavy/Starship test flights
Link here. The article begins by reviewing the work SpaceX is doing at both Boca Chica in Texas and Cape Canaveral in Florida. In the end, the company is aiming to have two Starship launchpads at Boca Chica and three launchpads in Florida, with both locations have extensive manufacturing facilities capable of building ships and boosters almost continually.
It then provides a nice review of all five Superheavy/Starship test flights that took place in 2025, a review that makes it very clear how much was accomplished, and indicates the possibilities for ’26. If SpaceX could manage almost one flight every two and a half months last year, despite two test stand explosions, the odds are excellent it will exceed that pace this year.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Link here. The article begins by reviewing the work SpaceX is doing at both Boca Chica in Texas and Cape Canaveral in Florida. In the end, the company is aiming to have two Starship launchpads at Boca Chica and three launchpads in Florida, with both locations have extensive manufacturing facilities capable of building ships and boosters almost continually.
It then provides a nice review of all five Superheavy/Starship test flights that took place in 2025, a review that makes it very clear how much was accomplished, and indicates the possibilities for ’26. If SpaceX could manage almost one flight every two and a half months last year, despite two test stand explosions, the odds are excellent it will exceed that pace this year.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
“””If SpaceX could manage almost one flight every two and a half months last year, despite two test stand explosions, the odds are excellent it will exceed that pace this year.”””
And with a business/space friendly Administration in Washington, no more huuuuge delays while some apparatchik takes months to re-type the SpaceX report.
In some ways, this is as exciting a time as was the Apollo program era.
Sure, we’ve already been to the moon, but now Mars is within reach. The frequent launches, and well produced and shared coverage of them, have been amazing to watch.
NSF ( and Marcus House ) do a good job of covering SpaceX launch pad activity and construction/testing of the launch vehicles. What I want to see more of is talk of SpaceX plans/challenges for orbit and reentry.
The next Starship flight will be orbital? Give me numbers on how much higher and faster it will go. How much more heat and stress is Starship subjected to on reentry from an orbital flight?
More coverage of the payload capacity of Starship is needed. There is so little discussion of actual payload to orbit that I am uncertain as to what questions to ask. The superheavy launches we saw in 2025 were larger and used more fuel than Falcon 9. Yet the end result was sub orbital compared to Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. I need coverage which compares the lift to orbit capacity of both systems and explains how it is that Starship is superior.
Regarding SpaceX running test flights which are orbital, discuss how that will work. There has to be concern about RUDs in orbit. And SpaceX cannot self destruct in orbit, so what to do if the ship starts to spin and has to be deorbited? Maybe 2026 will see less progress than 2025 as SpaceX has to make sure it can safely operate in orbit.
Once in orbit, everything at a specific height is moving that the same speed, right? But I guess, not the same direction. Anyway, just looking for media discussion of who SpaceX has to work with to put Starship into orbit.
Elon briefly jumped in an online chat in late December where he spoke about manufacturing solar cells and radiators on the moon, then launching data centers from the moon into space. ( @AdrianDittmann on X ) Which sounded like Elon is shifting some focus to Moon bases. Just guessing. Regarding media coverage, would be great to get hear more about these topics.
Steve Richter asks:
— The next Starship flight will be orbital? Give me numbers on how much higher and faster it will go. How much more heat and stress is Starship subjected to on reentry from an orbital flight?
Higher and faster in orbit means nothing. All that matters is the profile in terms of angle and speed when they hit the atmosphere. And that won’t differ from the tests at all, as the velocity and angle of the resent flight tests matched the typical profile of a re-entry from LEO. They just went direct to that profile, rather than going to orbit first, then doing a de-orbit burn to slow the craft down.
— There has to be concern about RUDs in orbit. And SpaceX cannot self destruct in orbit, so what to do if the ship starts to spin and has to be deorbited? Maybe 2026 will see less progress than 2025 as SpaceX has to make sure it can safely operate in orbit.
What if Soyuz, or Orion, or Dragon, or Gangyan, etc, etc? When it’s SpaceX, suddenly there’s tons of FUD that somehow doesn’t seem to be an issue for anyone else. SpaceX is by far the most experienced space operator in the world right now, with the most to lose from any orbital catastrophe. That’s why they’ve done so many flight tests before heading to orbit, and why the early orbital flights are almost certainly going to be in low orbits where any potential debris will decay quickly.
Steve Richter:
Have you visited NSF Forums. There is a lot of good information there mixed in with a lot of speculation..
Most likely the next couple of Starship launches will follow the same profile as the previous ones with a soft splash down in the Indian Ocean since these are the first of what SpaceX is labeling V(ersion)3 for both the booster and the ship.
“… Have you visited NSF Forums. There is a lot of good information there mixed in with a lot of speculation.. …”
looks very good, thanks. Made a bookmark. Still wish someone on YouTube would do the work for me and post videos in summary form telling me exactly what I am interested in. ;)
Scott Manley, Tim Dodd, CSI Starbase, Marcus House, What About It, Ellie in Space, Eager Space, the various NSF posters on youtube… tons of material out there.
Yes, Elon no longer has Henry Blake as POTUS, so Starship needs to perform better as he won’t have Radar O’biden to blame.
He didn’t have Lord Jill last year either.