Update on SpaceX’s plans to resume Starship/Superheavy flight testingLink here. The article provides a detailed overview of the situation at Boca Chica following the static fire explosion of a Starship on June 18, 2025, which badly damaged the Masseys test stand used by Starship prior to launches.
The problem facing the company is that it wants to fly the last few version-two Starships (called Block 2) before it is ready to switch to the upgraded Block 3, and these two versions apparently require a different set up on the test stand. The article outlines three options, with the first two the simplest and most straightforward, but require the most delays.
Option three, which is the most SpaceX-like of them all, would involve the repair Masseys for Block 3 and, in parallel, attempt to come up with a plan to static fire Ships on Orbital Launch Pad 1 (A). This would allow SpaceX to continue testing and flying the remaining Block 2 Ships while preparing for Block 3 of Starship. This is what SpaceX is planning.
In other words, do Block 2 Starship prelaunch static fire tests on the launchpad itself while Masseys is being rebuilt for Block 3.
The article outlines in detail the technical difficulties this plan requires, because the launch mount is also used for prelaunch static fire tests of Superheavy. The two rockets require different mount clamping and fueling systems.
If this is the plan that SpaceX is following, it will likely mean that the next test flight, the tenth, will occur in about two months, maybe sooner. We will get a better idea of the company’s plans in the coming weeks.
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 provides a detailed overview of the situation at Boca Chica following the static fire explosion of a Starship on June 18, 2025, which badly damaged the Masseys test stand used by Starship prior to launches.
The problem facing the company is that it wants to fly the last few version-two Starships (called Block 2) before it is ready to switch to the upgraded Block 3, and these two versions apparently require a different set up on the test stand. The article outlines three options, with the first two the simplest and most straightforward, but require the most delays.
Option three, which is the most SpaceX-like of them all, would involve the repair Masseys for Block 3 and, in parallel, attempt to come up with a plan to static fire Ships on Orbital Launch Pad 1 (A). This would allow SpaceX to continue testing and flying the remaining Block 2 Ships while preparing for Block 3 of Starship. This is what SpaceX is planning.
In other words, do Block 2 Starship prelaunch static fire tests on the launchpad itself while Masseys is being rebuilt for Block 3.
The article outlines in detail the technical difficulties this plan requires, because the launch mount is also used for prelaunch static fire tests of Superheavy. The two rockets require different mount clamping and fueling systems.
If this is the plan that SpaceX is following, it will likely mean that the next test flight, the tenth, will occur in about two months, maybe sooner. We will get a better idea of the company’s plans in the coming weeks.
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
One of the other websites I frequent is Stormtrack.org
I have been fascinated by severe weather, had some close calls–etc.
There is a space section–and one of the members claims to have had bad experience with the Starship end of things.
Any scuttlebutt about some Falcon guys maybe trying to straighten things out?
I hate to say this Richard M, but I am starting to wonder if some of the ULA guys were right to mock the tent city team, at least.
We know SuperHeavy is good—why doesn’t that transfer?
If they are going to do such a MacGyver thing, I would hope that for Ship Ver 2 they would continue to MacGyver more on the Ship.
Add some sort of stand-alone, relatively powerful quad thrusters (ala Apollo Command Service Module) on the leeward side of the Ship. This might give the snakebit Block 2 version of the Ship a fighting chance, even with leaking gases internally and externally, to maintain attitude control until the Ship fins and flaps could exert aerodynamic control.
In this way, they could get some useful and needed reentry performance data, even if the Ship did not fully survive. It beats just throwing the two Block 2 Ships up when, without some additional attitude control help, they have such a lousy track record. to reach entry point in an oriented manner.
The only episode I know of involving ULA employees mocking SpaceX facilities on site happened at the Cape, in the early days of Falcon 9. I think it happened at SLC-40. Eric Berger describes it in REENTRY.
Richard M,
Quite so. Re-Entry is a great read. But revenge, as the old saying goes, is a dish best served cold. I think taking down SLC-37’s infrastructure explosively was a suitably chilly riposte. By the time SpaceX does the same to SLC-41, the dish will be positively cryogenic.
Jeff Wright,
The “Falcon guys” have nearly all been on Starship for at least four years now. They pioneered booster landings and, as you note, Super Heavy seems pretty much alright. But the Falcon boys never re-entered and landed a 2nd stage so they’re now plowing fresh ground. I make allowances.
Dick Eagleston – Great (and true) observation about inherent difficulty of developing and flying all stage reusable rocket system.
I am almost certainly being too old space about this idea, but I wonder occasionally why I have not read of SpaceX flying reentry tile attached to a Falcon 9 second stage to get some performance data.
After two flight (8 & 9) failures in a row for what SpaceX reported were unrelated problems, I have started to think that a good idea would be for SpaceX to build an (approximately) one-fifth scale Starship, outfit it in tiles and expend a Falcon 9 mission on a trajectory similar to Starship Flights 8 & 9. This would allow them to continue to get tile option performance data as they work through internal plumbing and engine reliability issues inside the full-scale Ship. Expecting that such an approach would simply reenter, aerodynamically control itself and belly flop in with no powered flight. One could further simplify and have no movable fins & flaps for additional cost savings bit it seems the interface between airframe and fins/flaps has been seen to be problematic.
This may be too administratively difficult given Varda problems in getting reentry license. SpaceX may also not want to expend the scarce engineering and manufacturing time & manpower to scale develop such a test article.
It just seems like SpaceX is still working to figure out the most effective tile options even though they had relatively good success with tiles on Flights 6 & 7 using a Block I Starship.
Again, probably too old aerospace about the idea.
We should bear in mind that most of the guys who were working at Starbase in the “tent” days (roughly, 2016-2020) are long since gone, as are the tents. It’s a far more professional and well housed operation now, with enclosed bays, a big high end factory, and extensively iterated launch and static fire facilities and ground systems. A lot of Falcon 9 engineers have moved over there, along with a lot of new hires.
But it was always planned to be this way.